GIFT   OF 
W.   H.    Ivie 


The  Ingham  Lectures. 


COURSE  OF  LECTURES^ N 


The  Evidences 


OF 

NATURAL  AND  REVEALED  RELIGION. 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


OHIO  WESLEYAN  UNIVERSITY, 


DELAWARE,    OHIO. 


CLEVELAND: 
INGHAM,    CLARKE    AND    COMPANY, 

CINCINNATI:  HITCHCOCK  &  WALDEN. 
NEW  YORK:    NELSON  &  PHILLIPS. 

1872. 


'  - 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872, 

BY  WILLIAM  A.  INGHAM, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


GIFT  Of 


Preface. 


nP^HE  Ohio  Wesleyan  University  and  the  public 
-*-  are  indebted  for  this  volume  to  the  liberality 
of  William  A.  Ingham,  Esq.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Besides  other  benefactions  and  provisions  for  the 
future  growth  of  the  University,  of  which  he  is  one 
of  the  trustees,  Mr.  Ingham  placed,  four  years  ago, 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Faculty  of  the  University,  a 
very  generous  sum,  to  be  expended  in  securing  the 
delivery,  before  the  University,  of  a  course  of  lec- 
tures on  the  Evidences  of  Natural  and  Revealed  Re- 
ligion. The  selection,  both  of  the  lecturers  and  of 
the  several  themes,  he  referred  wholly  to  the  Faculty. 

This  foundation  for  a  course  of  lectures  met  one 
of  the  wants  of  the  University,  and  received  the 
hearty  approval  of  the  Faculty  and  other  friends  of 
the  institution. 

The  Faculty,  holding  their  positions  by  the  ap- 
pointment, of  the  Church,  as  educators  of  the  young 
men  of  the  Church,  have  always  felt  that  the  most 

9(55131 


iv  PREFACE. 

important  part  of  their  work  was  to  secure  the  re- 
ligious culture  and  establish  the  religious  faith  of 
the  hundreds  of  minds  annually  committed  to  their 
care.  To  this  end,  there  has  been,  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  University,  among  the  stated  religious 
exercises,  a  regular  appointment,  on  the  Sabbath 
afternoon,  of  a  lecture,  for  the  discussion  of  topics 
connected  with  the  faith, — the  evidences,  doctrines, 
and  morals  of  Christianity.  This  lecture,  usually 
delivered  by  the  President  of  the  University,  or  one 
of  the  professors,  has  embraced,  besides  other  relig- 
ious instruction,  not  only  occasional  single  discourses 
on  the  Evidences  of  Religion,  natural  or  revealed, 
but,  from  time  to  time,  several  series  of  discourses  on 
the  different  branches  of  the  great  argument.  These 
efforts  of  their  own,  for  the  religious  instruction  of 
the  students,  and  especially  their  establishment  in 
the  faith,  the  Faculty  were  very  glad  to  supplement 
with  a  course  of  lectures  in  this  direction  by  dis- 
tinguished men  from  abroad.  They  accordingly  very 
gratefully  accepted  the  duty  imposed  on  them  by  Mr. 
Ingham,  and  prepared  a  programme  for  the  course, 
and  selected  the  lecturers. 

The  limits  which  the  Faculty  had  to  prescribe  to 
themselves,  as  well  as  the  special  aim  of  the  course, 
determined  the  themes  to  be  selected.  The  subject- 
matter  of  the  Evidences  of  Religion  is,  no  doubt, 
practically  inexhaustible  ;  yet  each  age  has  its  own 
particular  phase   of  the  one  great  conflict  between 


PREFACE.  v 

faith  and  unbelief.  The  great  battle  of  the  present 
age  is  fought  on  these  three  questions :  I.  The 
existence  of  a  personal  God ;  and,  that  being  con- 
ceded, 2.  Whether  he  can  make,  and  has  made,  a 
special  revelation  of  himself;  and,  a  revelation  being 
granted,  3.  The  person  and  position  of  Christ. 
These  are  the  live  questions  discussed  in  this  vol- 
ume. It  is  needless  to  state  here  the  bearing  and 
the  shape  which  each  argument  assumes,  as  this 
is  so  much  better,  and  more  fully,  done  in  the 
pages  following.  The  lecturers  are  competent  to 
speak  for  themselves  ;  and,  unless  we  have  much 
mistaken  the  ability  and  conclusiveness  of  the  dis- 
cussions, they  have  well  and  satisfactorily  uttered 
what  will  be  accepted  as  the  thought  of  the  com- 
mon Church,  in  defense  of  the  faith,  on  these  great 
vital  questions. 

Each  lecture,  except  the  first  three  by  Bishop 
Foster,  is  independent  of  the  others,  and  complete 
in  itself.  If  there  be  found  some  repetition  in  the 
course  of  thought  in  the  volume,  as  is  almost  in- 
evitable in  the  case  of  many  writers  discussing  cog- 
nate themes  without  previous  consultation,  there  is 
certainly  no  collision  of  views  ;  and  the  parallelism 
will,  at  least,  not  detract  from  the  force  of  the  sev- 
eral arguments,  or  from  the  value  of  the  book. 

The  lectures  were  not  delivered  in  the  order  in 
which  they  are  here  given.  As  there  was  no  neces- 
sary  interdependence    in    the   lectures,  the   conven- 


VI  PREFACE. 

ience  of  the  authors  was  consulted  as  to  the  time 
and  order  of  their  delivery.  Yet  they  have  been 
restored,  in  the  published  volume,  to  the  order  which 
the  logical  sequence  of  the  subjects  seems  to  indicate. 
By  the  arrangement  of  the  publisher,  the  profits 
of  this  volume  are  to  be  devoted  to  the  purposes  of 
the  original  foundation,  and  will  lead  to  additional 
lectures,  from  time  to  time,  before  the  University, 
on  the  great  themes  found  in  the  department  of 
Apologetic  Theology. 

W.  G.  WILLIAMS. 

Ohio  Wesleyan  University,  \ 
Delaware,  O.,  June  I,  1872.      ) 


Contents. 


PAGE. 

I.  PERSONAL  CAUSE, 3 

By  the  Rev.  Randolph  S.  Foster,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

President  of  the  Drew  Theological  Seminary,  Madi- 
son, N.  J. 

II.  ORIGIN  OF  LIFE :   AN  EXAMINATION  OF  HUX- 
LEY,   41 

By  the  Rev.  Randolph  S.  Foster,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

III.  ORIGIN    OF    SPECIES:    AN    EXAMINATION    OF 

DARWINISM,        .        .        .        ."..'.        .        .73 
By  the  Rev.  Randolph  S.  Foster,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

IV.  THEISM   AND   ANTITHEISM   IN   THEIR    RELA- 

TIONS TO  SCIENCE,  .        .        .      '  .        .109 

By  the  Rev.  Asa  Mahan,  D.  D.,  President  of  Adrian 
College,  Adrian,  Mich. 

V.  MIRACLES, 139 

By  the  Rev.  Bishop  Edward  Thomson,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  Delaware,  Ohio. 

VI.  THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD,        .        .     169 
By  the  Rev.  Bishop  Davis  W.  Clark,  D.  D.,  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. 

VII.  SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION 215 

By  the  Rev.  William  F.  Warren,  D.  D.,  President 
of  the  School  of  Theology,  Boston  University,  Bos- 
ton, Mass. 


vni  CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

VIII.  THE  ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCIPTURE,     249 
By  the  Rkv.  Fales  H.  Newhall,  D.  D.,  Professor  of 
Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  Conn. 

IX.  ADAPTATION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES  TO  MAN'S 

MORAL  AND  SPIRITUAL  NATURE,      .        .     289 
By  the  Rev.  Daniel  Curry,  D.  D.,  Editor  of  the 
Christian  Advocate,  New  York  City. 

X.  THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST,   .        .        .        .317 
By  the  Rev.  William  D.  Godman,  D.  D.,  President 
of  Baldwin  University,  Berea,  Ohio. 


Lecture  I. 


PERSONAL   CAUSE. 


REV.  RANDOLPH  S.  FOSTER,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

President  of  the  Drew  Theological  Seminary, 

Madison,  New  Jersey. 


p 


.ECTURE  I. 
SONAL   CAUSE. 


THE  Bible  is  either  the  most  adventurous  and 
astounding  fraud  that  has  ever  gained  currency 
among  men,  or  the  most  sublime  and  momentous 
system  of  verities  that  has  at  any '  time  appeared 
upon  earth.  If  the  former,  it  ought  not  to  be  impos- 
sible to  expose  the  imposture ;  if  the  latter,  it  ought 
to  be  possible  to  command  for  it  the  respect  of  un- 
prejudiced reason  and  the  acceptance  of  rational  faith. 
That  after  so  many  ages  it  is  still  in  debate,  might,  to 
a  superficial  observer,  seem  to  be  to  the  discredit  of 
its  claim.  A  more  astute  and  careful  judge  would 
find  the  explanation  to  consist,  in  part,  of  the  unique 
nature  and  intrinsic  difficulty  of  the  claim  itself,  and, 
in  part,  of  the  peculiar  relations  of  the  jury  to  the 
question  in  dispute. 

The  claim  laid  by  the  Bible  is,  that,  entire,  it  is 
either  a  direct  revelation  from  God,  delivered  by  in- 
spiration to  different  persons  in  widely  separated  ages, 
or  a  statement  of  facts  under  authority  of  Divine 
sanction,  and  that  it  is  of  complete  and  permanent 
authority  over  the  faith  and  conduct  of  men  on  all  the 
subjects  of  which  it  enunciates. 

3 


4  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

The  con  positions  are  in  some  parts  historic,  in 
some  poetic,  in  other  some  didactic.  They  meddle 
villi  all  .'subjects.  Adventuring  beyond  the  highest 
sweep  of  imagination,  they  lay  bare  the  secrets  of  the 
infinite.  Beginning  with  the  primal  creative  act,  they 
boldly  announce  a  cosmogony  ;  detail  the  order  and 
method  of  the  origination  of  worlds ;  give  the  history 
of  cosmical  development  and  changes  anterior  to  life ; 
state  the  chronological  order  of  the  advent  of  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  animate  existence.  Especially,  they 
minutely  describe  the  origin  of  man,  his  place  in  the 
scale  of  being,  the  mysterious  junction  of  spirit  and 
matter  in  his  composition,  and  his  inauguration  to  the 
lordship  and  sovereignty  of  the  world.  Then  follows 
the  history  of  the  first  forty  centuries,  tracing  all 
existing  nations  to  root-stock,  specifying  the  rise  of 
the  earliest  arts  and  inventions  ;  the  probable  origin 
of  written  and  spoken  language;  the  institution  of 
sacrifice  ;  the  inauguration  of  the  moral  law  ;  deific 
appearances  to  men  at  many  times  and  in  divers 
manners  ;  inspirations,  and  miracles  attending ;  the 
incarnation  of  the  Godhead ;  his  utterances  and  super- 
natural works  while  in  the  flesh  ;  his  death,  with  pre- 
ternatural signs  accompanying;  his  resurrection  and 
translation  ;  the  publication  of  the  Gospel ;  and  signs 
authenticating  the  apostolic  ministry,  with  an  endless 
minutia  of  public  and  private  events  spread  over  four 
millenniads.  They  discourse  of  all  occult  questions  ; 
of  the  nature  and  perfections  of  God  ;  of  the  source 
and  origin  of  evil ;  of  fundamental  ethics,  divine  and 
human  ;  of  the  origin  and  significance  of  pain  and 
death ;    of  the   immortality  of  man ;    of  the   unique 


PERSONAL   CAUSE.  5 

doctrine  of  the  resurrection ;  of  a  final  universal  judg- 
ment ;  of  angels  and  demoniac  spirits  ;  of  the  employ- 
ments and  limitations  of  each  order ;  of  heaven  and 
hell ;  in  a  word,  of  almost  all  subjects  that  have  ever 
interested  human  thought,  as  matters  either  of  specu- 
lative or  practical  concernment. 

It  can  not  be  occasion  of  surprise  that  an  utter- 
ance so  manifold,  passing  upon  so  many  difficult  and 
vexed  subjects,  claiming  such  exactness  and  perfection 
of  truth,  and  withal,  boasting  an  origin  so  unique  and 
pre-eminent,  should  have  been  met,  not  with  simple 
challenge  alone,  but  confronted  with  spontaneous  ob- 
jurgation, and  resisted  with  long-continued  and  unre- 
lenting opposition,  especially  by  a  race  to  whom  not 
alone  were  its  ethical  requirements  grievous,  but  its 
historical  statements  criminatory,  and  the  future  it 
held  forth,  threatening  and  alarming  in  the  extreme. 

The  broad,  almost  infinite,  area  of  its  discussions, 
both  as  to  time  and  space,  opened  so  many  sides  to 
attack  ;  introduced  so  many  points  irritant  of  opposi- 
tion ;  placed  it  in  so  many  short  antagonisms  with 
ancient  prejudices  and  fondly  cherished  superstitions, 
faiths,  and  practices ;  brought  humanity  into  such 
angry  and  uncomfortable  moods  with  itself  in  so  many 
ways,  that  it  can  create  no  astonishment  if  the  unex- 
tinguished resentment  of  centuries  burns  still  fiercely 
to-day  ;  if  the  defenders  of  the  faith  find  themselves 
still  beleaguered  by  armies  of  defiant  and  derisive  ene- 
mies. The  hate  and  persistent  oppugnance  the  reve- 
lation has  encountered  is  what,  a  priori,  was  to  be 
expected. 

Nor  ought  it  to  excite  wonder  or  discouragement 


6  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

if  the  chosen  defenders  of  the  faith  have  not  always 
been  most  wise  and  skillful  in  their  methods.  If  the 
revelation  was  God-given,  we  ought  not  to  forget  that 
the  trust  was  committed  to  men.  It  may  even  be  a 
question,  whether  friends  or  foes  have  most  weakened 
the  holy  keep  ;  whether  the  defenders  or  assailants  of 
the  sacred  trust  have  most  postponed  the  day  of  its 
coronation  ;  the  former  by  their  follies,  or  the  latter  by 
their  hate.  In  fact,  the  fables  man- invented,  not  the 
faith  God-given,  have  protracted  the  struggle.  The 
human  filaments  inwrought  into  the  holy  vestments 
have  been  their  weakness.  The  debris  piled  about 
the  walls  are  the  fragments  of  the  human  stucco, 
daubed  over  the  hewn  stone.  It  is  time  to  have  done 
with  this  expensive  folly. 

As  might  have  been  anticipated,  the  phases  of  at- 
tack have  been  constantly  changing.  One  form  of 
opposition  has  been  obviated  only  to  make  way  for 
another.  Olympus  has  been  stormed,  and  its  mob 
of  mythic  gods  put  to  the  rout,  only  to  discover  the 
strongholds  of  more  insidious  adversaries.  To-day  the 
battle  rages  along  the  whole  line  of  Christian  defenses 
as  really  and  as  fiercely  as  when  Paul  went  up  and 
down  from  Syria  to  Rome,  preaching,  against  pagan 
idols,  the  new  doctrine  of  Jesus  and  the  resurrection. 

Past  successes  forbid  us  to  doubt  the  issue  ;  but  it 
is  not  to  be  disguised  that,  finally  to  silence,  and,  more 
still,  to  convince,  disputants  fecund  of  every  scholarly 
art,  and  animated  equally  by  pride,  ambition,  and  hate, 
will  continue  to  lay  under  tribute  the  best  brain,  the 
broadest  learning,  and  most  noble  and  tireless  zeal 
Christendom  can  elaborate.    As  has  been  well  said  by 


PERSONAL   CAUSE.  J 

the  late  learned  and  excellent  Doctor  Barnes :  "  The 
battle,  under  a  new  form,  may  be  to  be  re-fought  in 
each  successive  generation.  The  triumph  of  Chris- 
tianity at  any  one  time  is  by  no  means  a  permanent 
triumph,  or  even  in  itself  a  proof  of  permanent  triumph 
at  all ;  and  the  apparent  triumph  at  any  time  of  infi- 
delity is  by  no  means  a  demonstration  of  permanent 
and  ultimate  victory.  Celsus,  Porphyry,  and  Julian 
act  their  part  and  disappear;  Hobbes,  Chubb,  and 
Morgan  follow,  and  then  vanish  from  the  stage ;  Vol- 
ney,  Gibbon,  Hume,  attack  the  system  and  retire  from 
the  conflict;  Strauss  and  R6nan,  Hegel  and  Comte, 
follow  after.  A  host  of  scientific  warriors  rushes  on 
the  arena  for  an  attack  on  the  religion  that  is  fixed 
and  unchangeable,  deriving  their  means  of  attack  from 
a  system  that  is  fixed  and  unchangeable  as  Christian- 
ity itself ;  and  the  warfare  assumes  new  forms,  and  is 
to  be  fought  with  new  weapons.  Whether  these  two 
systems,  equally  fixed  and  unchangeable,  are  really  in 
conflict,  or  will  be  found  ultimately  to  coincide  and 
harmonize,  is  the  question  which  is  now  before  this 
age,  and  which  is  perhaps  to  be  before  the  world  in 
the  development  of  future  ages."* 

The  favorite  form  of  attack  in  our  time  is  that  which 
patronizes  religion,  but  throws  contempt  on  revelation. 
Its  boast  is,  that  science  has  obsoleted  the  Bible. 
There  are  two  ways  in  which  it  is  supposed  that 
science  reaches  this  result,  and  so  closes  the  ages' 
long  debate.  The  first  disports  itself  with  compli- 
ments ;  it  acknowledges  that  the  Bible  was  once  a 
very  respectable  book,  much  superior  to  the  age  in 

*  "  Evidences  of  Christianity,  pp.  362,  363. 


8  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

which  it  was  written ;  that  it  contained  many  useful 
lessons,  and  did  good  service ;  but  insists  that  it  be- 
longs to  the  childhood  of  the  world,  and  has  only 
shared  the  inevitable  fate  of  every  good  thing  in  its 
supersedence  by  something  better ;  its  nursery-clothes 
have  simply  become  too  small  for  the  grown-up  man, 
and  must  be  laid  aside.  Moses  and  Isaiah  were  great, 
and  Jesus  and  Paul,  in  their  respective  periods  ;  but  it 
was  their  misfortune  to  have  lived  too  early,  and  so 
they  must  retire — be  snuffed,  put  out,  or  lost  amid  the 
blaze  of  modern  luminaries.  This  was  a  darling  idea 
of  Theodore  Parker,  and  often  appears  rehashed  in 
the  orations  and  essays  of  the  Boston  litterateurs,  who 
still  wax  lustrous  in  the  sheen  of  his  profane  babblings. 
There  is  so  much  semblance  of  truth  in  this  arrogant 
and  dangerous  flattery,  that  it  goes  further  than  many 
arguments.  The  world  is  wiser  than  it  used  to  be  ; 
the  child  has  become  the  stalwart  man ;  the  nursery- 
rattle  will  no  longer  suffice ;  the  fables  and  the  thumb- 
screws have  been  cast  away ;  a  new  and  glorious  day 
has  come.  Since  the  world  began,  there  has  been  no 
parallel  to  the  progress  of  the  time  in  which  we  live. 
But  it  does  not  follow  that  the  new  age  has  no  further 
need  of  the  old  master  who  inaugurated  its  splendors, 
and  set  the  coronet  of  its  glories  upon  its  brow.  Who 
knows  what  other  inexhaustible  riches  are  still  to  be 
dug  from  the  same  mines  which  have  already  enriched 
the  ages  ?  The  second  method  would  retire  the  ven- 
erable Book,  not  alone  because  the  world  has  found 
something  better  adapted  to  its  ripeness,  but  because 
science  has  found  its  staple  facts  to  be  fables — that  it 
is  even  false  as  it  is  useless. 


PERSONAL   CAUSE.  9 

This  is  the  precise  point  I  am  here  to  discuss.  It 
is  incisively  presented  in  the  question :  Do  the  discov- 
eries of  science  collide  with  the  statements  of  the 
Bible,  and  so  vacate  its  claim  as  a  revelation  from 
God?  By  the  discoveries  of  science,  we  mean  those 
facts  and  theories  which  have  become  established  by 
the  inductive  or  Baconian  method  ;  the  knowledges, 
as  distinguished  from  conjectures.  There  is  a  dispute 
among  scientists  themselves  as  to  precisely  where  the 
boundary  is  between  philosophy,  which  aims  at  ulti- 
mate cause,  and  science,  which  aims  at  the  knowledge 
of  definite  facts  and  laws.  We  include  under  the 
term  all  knowledge  founded  on  experiment  and  observ- 
ation, and  such  generalizations  as  are  arrived  at  by  a 
fair  use  of  the  inductive  method. 

Before  we  proceed  to  examine  the  point  in  dispute, 
it  will  be  proper  to  mention  a  few  things  as  incidental, 
and  yet  important  to  the  right  conduct  of  the  discus- 
sion. First,  it  ought  to  be  noted,  that  if  it  should  be 
found  that  there  is  no  such  conflict  as  is  alleged  by 
the  enemies  of  the  Word,  this  discovery  will  not  leave 
the  Christian  cause  in  the  same  condition  in  which  it 
was  before — simply  uninvalidated ;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, must  greatly  redound  to  its  advantage ;  must, 
indeed,  become  a  most  conclusive  and  unanswerable 
proof  in  support  of  its  claim  to  inspiration.  If  the 
contradiction  of  science  would  vacate  its  claim,  as  we 
admit  it  would,  its  coincidence  with  science  estab- 
lishes its  claim.  This  would  not  be  a  sequitur  in 
every  case,  but  certainly  is  in  this.  It  is  so  important 
a  point  that  we  must  beg  especial  attention  to  it. 
The  position  we  assume  is  this :  the  Bible,  if  unin- 


IO  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

spired,  would  inevitably  have  violently  collided  with 
the  modern  findings  of  science  ;  if,  therefore,  it  be 
found  not  so  to  collide,  it  must  be  because  it  was  in- 
spired— indited  by  a  higher  than  human  intelligence. 

The  ground  upon  which  we  rest  this  position  is 
briefly  this :  The  Biblical  writings  were  indited  at  a 
time  when  there  was  no  knowledge  extant  on  the 
subjects  of  which  modern  science  treats  ;  at  a  time 
when  it  was  impossible  that  the  writers,  if  dependent 
merely  upon  human  resources,  should  have  been  able 
to  reach  even  proximate  truth  ;  at  a  time  when,  it 
is  now  known,  all  conjectures  were  shallow,  empty, 
and  false  ;  in  the  very  infancy  of  knowledge  on  all 
subjects.  Now,  if  it  shall  so  turn  out  that  these 
writers,  under  the  circumstances,  alone  of  all  men, 
announced  in  substance  what  after-ages  of  great  sci- 
entific research  prove  to  be  true,  there  is  no  way  of 
accounting  for  this  fact  except  on  the  hypothesis  of 
inspiration ;  what  they  did  not  know  themselves,  and 
could  not,  for  want  of  access  to  the  means  of  knowl- 
edge, they  must  have  received  from  a  supernatural 
intelligence.  Thus  the  coincidence  of  the  story  read 
from  the  rocks  to-day,  and  from  the  very  particles  of 
matter,  with  what  was  written  on  the  sacred  pages 
ages  before,  supports  the  authority  and  inspiration  of 
the  record. 

The  next  point  to  be  noted  is  this  :  It  is  most  im- 
portant that  the  disputants  in  the  case  do  justice  to  each 
other  and  to  the  common  cause  of  truth,  which  ought 
to  be  equally  dear  to  both.  They  have  no  right  to 
assume  the  attitude  of  factionists.  Truth  is  one  and 
harmonious  wherever  found,  whether  in  the  Bible  or 


PERSONAL    CAUSE.  II 

in  the  rocks,  and  can  not  conflict.*  Some  scientists 
ill  conceal  a  discreditable  animus  against  the  Bible — 
an  animus  just  enough  as  against  priestly  ignorance 
and  intolerance,  but  the  grossest  injustice  as  against 
revelation.  Some  theologians,  so  called,  on  the  other 
hand,  exhibit  venom  against  science,  and  cease  not  to 
denounce  it  as  atheistic.  Let  us  have  done  with  this. 
In  debating  the  point  whether  the  findings  of  science 
collide  with  the  statements  of  revelation,  the  disputants 
insult  their  readers  and  stultify  themselves  when  they 
interlard  the  discussion  with  caricatures  of  each  other. 
The  scientist  finds  his  facts  and  laws.  He  does 
so  with  perfect  independence  and  freedom.  He  asks 
no  permission  from  any  class  of  men,  or  from  any 
book.  His  only  business  is  to  find  out  truth  and  make 
it  known  to  his  fellows,  and  his  only  limitation  is  to 
be  faithful  and  honest  in  his  chosen  work.  All  good 
men  must  rejoice  in  his  success.  The  theologian  has 
a  book  which  he  believes  to  be  inspired,  and  therefore 
infallible.  His  business  is  to  ascertain  its  contents,  ex- 
pound and  defend  them  ;  but  he  has  no  other  interest 
in  it  than  is  found  in  its  truth  ;  his  obligation  to  defend 
it  has  no  other  ground  than  its  truth.  If  it  be  true,  it 
can  not  disagree  with  other  truth  ;  therefore  his  pledge 
to  it  can  not  make  it  necessary  that  he  should  make 
war  upon  other  truth.  But  it  is  said  that  science  takes 
away  his  book  and  destroys  his  occupation  !  Let  his 
book  go,  then,  and  the  sooner  the  better,  and  let  him 
seek  some  other  and  more  worthy  occupation.  But 
before  he  surrenders  his  book  and  his  occupation,  he 
surely  has  the  right  to  see  whether  any  such  necessity 

*"  Reign  of  Law,"  chap.  ii. 


12  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

exists.  If  he  may  not  denounce  or  renounce  the 
science,  he  certainly  may  look  searchingly  into  the 
question  whether  it  requires  him  to  renounce  himself 
or  not.  Now,  in  conducting  that  examination,  there 
is  both  a  true  and  a  false  method. 

The  false  method  is  not'uncommon  with  the  theo- 
logian, and  betrays  conscious  weakness.  It  shows  fear 
that  the  book  can  not  stand  the  test  of  trial  by  the 
rigorous  requirements  of  criticism.  It  would  therefore 
deny  the  venue.  It  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
science — it  will  ignore  it.  As  well  might  the  criminal 
ignore  the  executioner.  The  book  can  not  survive 
such  a  method  as  this.  It  can  not  preserve  its  life  by 
skulking  in  the  dark.  It  must  reign  in  the  blaze  of 
day  with  the  homage  of  enlightened  faith,  or  must 
relinquish  its  throne,  willingly  or  reluctantly,  to  an- 
other and  more  deserving  king.  Of  the  same  kind  is 
the  defense  which  has  been  attempted  on  the  ground 
that  the  Bible  is  not  a  scientific  book,  and,  therefore, 
can  not  be  required  to  agree  with  science;  as  if  it 
might  be  false  to  science  and  yet  true  to  truth.  To 
take  such  a  position  is  the  most  damaging  thing  that 
could  happen  to  the  book,  for  it  shows  two  fatal  weak- 
nesses: first,  that  the  defender  himself  believes  that 
facts  are  against  him  ;  and  second,  that  he  is  stupid 
enough  to  hold  on  to  his  faith  against  the  facts.  The 
Bible  will  accept  of  no  such  defense  as  this  ! 

While  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  object  to  any  as- 
sumed revelation  on  the  ground  that  it  did  not  contain 
an  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  encyclopedia  of  science, 
when  it  professes  only  to  announce  certain  spiritual 
laws,  it  would  be  perfectly  legitimate  to  discard  it  as 


PERSONAL    CAUSE.  1 3 

false  and  wholly  unworthy  of  trust,  if  it  could  be 
shown  that  it  had  uttered  as  fact  any  statement  which 
after-knowledge  proved  to  be  not  fact,  even  though  the 
fact  had  no  bearing  on  the  special  subject  of  which  it 
claimed  to  make  revelation.  But  its  announcements 
must  be  interpreted,  even  \n  such  cases,  by  just  rules 
of  criticism.  "Ab  uno  disce  omnes"  is  in  this  case  a 
just  rule.  "Fa/sus  in  uno,falsus  in  omnibus?  There 
may  be  no  reason  why  the  revelation  should  make  an 
announcement ;  but  if  it  announce  at  all,  it  must  be  in 
accord  with  truth.  No  error  can  have  the  sanction  of 
a  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord." 

It  is  not  with  a  pretended  revelation  as  it  is  with  a 
confessedly  merely  human  essay.  The  latter  may  be 
known  to  err,  and  yet  retain  a  measure  of  respect  and 
authority.  It  has  more  truth  if  it  has  some  error.  A 
revelation  acquires  all  its  authority  from  the  fact  of  its 
divine  source.  When  you  convict  it  of  error  in  a 
single  instance,  you  destroy  the  sanction  of  divinity, 
and  its  entire  authority  is  taken  out  of  it.  It  may  have 
good  and  truth  in  it ;  but  it  is  not  what  it  pretended 
to  be,  a  revelation. 

We  must  be  content  with  the  most  rigorous  criti- 
cism ;  hold  ourselves  amenable  to  the  same  tests  we 
apply  to  others.  We  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the 
defenders  of  the  Bible,  if  they  were  so  disposed,  can 
not  afford  to  "whistle  science  down  the  wind."  No 
clearly  established  truth  of  science  can  be  set  aside  by 
any  evidence  now  known  as  supporting  the  truth  of  Bib- 
lical utterances.  In  an  absolute  conflict,  it  is  not  a 
question  which  must  ultimately  go  to  the  wall.  The 
evidence  for   the    Divine   authority  of  the    Bible   is 


14  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

assumed  to  be  clear  and  conclusive  ;  but  once  demon- 
strate that  its  statements  collide  with  fact,  and  its 
evidences  crumble  in  a  moment  as  "the  baseless  fabric 
of  a  vision." 

The  utmost  the  defenders  of  revelation  can  de- 
mand is,  that  in  any  supposed  or  seeming  conflict 
between  its  received  statement  and  a  newly  discovered 
knowledge,  they  have  time  for  re-examination  and  a 
new  departure,  aided  by  the  light  the  new  knowledge 
furnishes.  If  they  can  make  it  appear  that  the  con- 
flict is  only  one  bearing  against  their  interpretation, 
but  not  against  another  construction  which  the  text 
will  allow,  they  are  entitled  to  ask  that  the  text  be  not 
held  responsible  for  their  ignorance.  Candid  criticism 
will  not  dare  to  push  the  objection,  when  it  perceives 
that  it  is  the  interpretation  and  not  the  word  that  is  at 
fault.  But  in  such  a  case  the  discoverers  of  the  new 
knowledge  have  a  right  to  ask  that  the  old  error  of  in- 
terpretation be  abandoned,  and  that  they  receive  the 
credit  to. which  their  discovery  entitles  them.  Had 
this  been  the  uniform  custom,  I  doubt  not  a  better 
understanding  would  prevail  between  Biblical  and 
scientific  critics. 

It  is  proper  we  should  say  yet  further :  the  dis- 
cussion is  not  a  causeless  one.  There  is,  confessedly 
in  several  cases,  the  appearance  of  conflict  between 
the  two  records.  There  is  positive  conflict  between 
the  popular  rendering  of  the  one  and  the  unequivocal 
conclusions  of  the  other.  So  much  ought  to  be  ad- 
mitted before  any  discussion  is  commenced;  and  con- 
sequent on  the  admission  ought  to  be  the  unreserved 
renunciation  of  the  traditional  interpretational  faith, 


PERSONAL  CAUSE.  1 5 

and  candid  and  grateful  recognition  of  the  service  ren- 
dered in  exposing  its  error.  But  it  ought  also  to  be 
remembered,  that  if  believers  have  made  mistakes  of 
construction,  and  have  not  always  been  apt  scholars 
in  discovering  their  blunders,  and  prompt  in  correct- 
ing them,  scientists  themselves  have  not  always  proved 
to  be  safe  masters.  All  literature  is  full  of  vagaries, 
once  proclaimed  scientific  verities.  So-called  science 
often  turns  out  to  be  nescience.  So,  while  we  must 
hold  ourselves  ready  and  eager  to  close  with  any  and 
every  new  truth,  we  have  a  right  to  ask  that  we  be 
allowed  time  to  scrutinize  carefully  each  pretender, 
before  we  join  the  mob  of  its  following.  Especially, 
as  we  think  we  have  very  high  proof  of  the  authority 
of  our  book,  if  an  unknown  guide  should  ask  us  to 
renounce  it,  it  can  not  be  unreasonable  that  we  demand 
a  little  time  to  get  familiar  with  his  voice.  It  ought 
to  suffice  that  we  accept  conclusions  when  they  are 
reached ;  or,  at  most,  no  more  ought  to  be  required  of 
us  than  that  we  aid  in  reaching  them. 

Once  more:  it  is  important  at  the  outstart  that  we 
be  guarded  against  a  mistake  into  which  some  have 
fallen,  and  into  which  the  very  terms  of  the  question 
in  debate  are  liable  to  plunge  us — the  mistake  of  sup- 
posing that  scientists,  as  a  class,  and  by  virtue  of  their 
science,  are  unbelievers  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Bi- 
ble ;  or,  what  is  the  same,  that  they  believe  there  is 
irreconcilable  disagreement  between  their  findings  and 
Biblical  statements.  There  could  be  no  greater  mis- 
take than  this.  It  is  not  only  certain,  as  we  expect 
to  show,  that  there  is  no  such  conflict,  but  it  is  also 
true   that   the    best    and    most   learned    devotees   of 


1 6  INGHAM  LE C TURES. 

science  are,  and  have  been,  the  purest  and  noblest 
Christians,  the  simplicity  of  their  faith  keeping  step 
with  the  breadth  and  depth  of  their  researches.  The 
scientists  who  have  attained  to  eminence  in  their  re- 
spective departments,  who  reject  the  sacred  record, 
may  be  counted  on  the  fingers  of  the  two  hands, 
whilst  those  who  bow  to  its  authority  are  both  numer- 
ous and  pre-eminent.  Here,  then,  we  make  our  de- 
parture, having  full  confidence  in  the  inspiration  and, 
hence,  infallible  truth  of  the  Bible;  and  having  full 
and  cordial  sympathy  with  the  spirit,  and  unalloyed 
and  hearty  confidence  in  the  success,  of  science  ;  in 
the  truth  of  its  already  grand  discoveries,  and  await- 
ing with  eager  desire  its  yet  greater  triumphs, — here,  I 
say,  we  take  our  departure,  to  show  that  between  these 
two  revelations,  the  one  by  inspiration,  the  other  by 
discovery,  there  is,  and  can  be,  no  conflict ;  because 
both  are  true.  The  true  scientist  shall  lead  nowhere 
where  we  will  not  follow. 

That  there  has  been  a  wonderful  enlargement  of 
knowledges  within  a  century  or  two,  on  all  subjects, 
can  not  be  disputed.  Especially  has  material  nature 
been  cultivated  with  marvelous  results.  Not  only 
have  scientific  methods  conducted  to  solid  and  certain 
knowledge  of  the  facts  of  nature  as  extended  in  space ; 
the  elements  and  composition  of  bodies ;  the  forces — 
mechanical,  chemical,  and  vital ;  the  structural  arrange- 
ments and  functions  of  organisms  ;  the  laws  of  propa- 
gation, variation,  and  destruction  in  the  realm  of  life, 
and  whatever  besides  is  existing  within  and  around 
us  in  the  processes  of  both  mind  and  matter  ;  but  the 
same   methods    have   conducted   to  a   knowledge  of 


PERSONAL  CAUSE.  1 7 

events  as  extended  in  time  of  almost  incalculable 
duration.  "  Thus  it  is  that  we  have  those  great  sciences 
which  extend  themselves  beyond  the  limits  of  our  ex- 
perience, and  from  slight  signs  educe  the  knowledge 
of  what  has  been,  but  never  met  the  eye  of  man ;  and 
of  what  will  be,  but  will  never  meet  the  eye  of  him 
who  predicts  it ;  which  does  not  even  in  imagination 
come  before  the  eye  of  the  thinker  as  he  predicts  it, 
but  is  understood  through  symbols  only.  Astronomy, 
geology,  botany,  zoology,  are  among  these.  The  dis- 
tance in  space  or  time ;  the  long  sequences  of  causes 
through  the  ages  ;  the  metamorphoses  which  the  forms 
of  nature,  animate  or  inanimate,  have  gone  through 
in  the  progress  to  their  present  state,  are  rendered 
comprehensible  by  such  sciences  as  these."*  They 
have  carried  us  back  along  the  march  of  ages  too 
great  for  our  arithmetic,  and  disclosed  to  our  view  the 
monumental  remains  of  races  and  creations,  extinct 
myriads  of  millenniums  before  our  race  became  deni- 
zens of  the  earth.  We  can  not  too  much  admire  the 
vast  progress  that  has  been  made,  and  is  constantly 
making,  in  all  the  departments  of  knowledge. 

Upon  any  theory  but  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible, 
inevitable  conflict,  as  we  have  seen,  must  have  arisen 
between  its  statements,  made  in  the  time  of  ignorance, 
and  these  wonderful  discoveries.  No  other  book  has 
survived  intact  a  single  century.  Nor  could  it  have 
been  more  fortunate  if  merely  a  human  book.  What, 
then,  are  the  points  upon  which  it  is  assumed  there  is 
conflict  ?  It  is  strange  they  are  so  few.  They  may  be 
reduced  to  four;  and  these  are  so  related  as  without 

* North  British  Revieiv,  Oct.  '70. 
3 


1 8  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

great  strain  to  be  brought  to  unity.  The  sixty  books 
and  the  thousand  pages,  hailing  from  patriarchal  climes 
and  patriarchal  times,  pass  the  ordeal  of  scientific 
criticism  with  but  four  signs  of  dissent.  And  our 
hope  is  to  show  that  with  regard  to  these  the  collision 
is  imaginary ;  a  strife,  in  fact,  between  groundless  in- 
terpretations of  the  text  and  science,  and  not  the  text 
itself. 

The  points  upon  which  there  is  supposed  conflict 
may  be  reduced  to  the  following : 

First.  The  question  of  a  personal  God,  distinct 
from,  and  the  creator  of,  all  other  being. 

Second.  The  question  of  the  time  and  manner  of 
creation,  or  the  origin  and  method  of  the  cosmos. 

Third.  The  question  of  the  origin  of  man,  and  the 
unity,  development,  and  antiquity  of  the  race. 

Fourth.  Some  incidental  allusions  to  astronomical 
facts,  and  the  question  of  miracles  in  general. 

There  have  been  other  points  mooted ;  but  they 
have  either  been  retired  by  a  fair  reconcilement,  or 
are  too  trivial  to  require  special  attention.  The  above 
are  the  grand  points  which  are  at  present  occupying 
the  thought  of  the  learned  world.  Let  us  consider 
them  in  their  order.  Our  limits  will  necessitate  brev- 
ity, and  we  must  assume  for  our  audience  a  consider- 
able amount  of  learning  on  the  subjects  under  discus- 
sion ;  but  we  will  endeavor  fairly  to  present,  and,  on 
the  part  of  the  Bible,  relieve  the  supposed  difficulty. 

First.  We  are  to  consider  the  question  of  a  per- 
sonal God,  distinct  from,  and  the  creator  of,  all  other 
being. 

It  is  just  to  say  that  the  question  here  is  rather  a 


PERSONAL  CAUSE.  1 9 

question  as  between  philosophy  and  the  Bible,  than 
between  science  and  the  Bible  ;  but  science,  as  posi- 
tivism, has  become  so  far  a  party  in  the  interest  of 
philosophy,  that  it  fairly  joins  the  issue  as  against  the 
Bible,  and  must  be  known  in  the  answer. 

The  postulate  of  the  Bible,  repeated  in  so  many 
forms  that  it  is  impossible  to  mistake  it,  is:  "A  per- 
sonal God,  self-existent  and  eternal,  the  absolute  creator 
of  all  other  being  and  beings,  visible  and  invisible!' 
Positivism,  by  the  school  of  Auguste  Comte,  and 
developmentism,  by  its  most  conspicuous  expounders, 
Darwin  and  Huxley,  attempt  to  show  that  science 
reaches  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  origin  and 
permanent  order  of  the  cosmos  without  any  such  be- 
ing. They  are  careful  not  to  deny  his  existence,  and 
even  to  profess  faith  in  it ;  but  the  whole  drift  and 
boom  of  their  reasonings  serve  to  create  the  impres- 
sion that  he  is  a  needless  factor ;  that,  in  reality,  for 
the  purposes  assigned  in  the  Bible,  he  is  not  required, 
absolutely  not  found,  non  est.  This  they  boldly  and 
constantly  assert  upon  the  authority  of  science.  They 
scientifically  construct  the  universe  without  God.  The 
conflict  between  science  and  the  Bible,  made  thus  by 
them,  is  found  in  this,  that  the  Bible  positively  as- 
signs one  cause  for  the  cosmos  ;  science,  it  is  alleged, 
demonstrates  a  totally  different  one. 

Here  we  join  issue.  The  exact  point  of  the  issue 
we  make  is  this :  We  deny  that  scientists  of  any  school 
are  able  to  account  for  the  cosmos  without  including 
the  exact  quantity  set  forth  in  the  Bible  as  a  personal 
God,  an  absolute  creator.  We  insist,  rather,  that 
science  leads  us  directly  to  him,  and  does  him  rev- 


20  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

erent  homage  and  worship.  Let  us  examine  the  case. 
The  importance  of  the  issue  must  be  apparent  on  the 
slightest  reflection.  It  involves  the  key-stone  of  the 
arch.  Demonstrate  that  the  Bible  is  false  in  its  pos- 
tulate, and  of  course  the  debate  is  closed. 

We  have  already  said,  and  now  wish  to  repeat  it 
with  greater  emphasis  and  fullness,  that  the  Bible  pos- 
tulates the  existence  of  a  personal  God,  the  absolute 
creator  of  all  other  existence.  It  declares  him  to  be  a 
spirit ;  non-material  in  his  essence,  eternal  in  dura- 
tion, infinite  in  power  and  knowledge.  It  differen- 
tiates between  the  substances  of  the  uncreated  and  the 
created,  as  fundamentally  distinct  and  different ;  the 
one  wholly  unlike  the  other  in  the  sources  of  being, 
and  in  the  perfections  and  modes  of  being ;  the  one 
unoriginated,  the  other  caused.  This  Biblical  thesis 
of  a  personal  God,  it  is  declared,  has  been  set  aside  by 
the  discovery,  scientifically  made,  of  the  essential  unity 
and  eternity  of  all  substance,  which  substance  either 
consists  of,  or  inherently  possesses,  certain  eternal, 
impersonal,  and  necessary  forces,  and  is  known  as 
matter,  by  the  action  of  which  all  cosmical  changes 
have  been  and  will  be  produced.  We  deny  that  any 
such  discovery  has  been  made,  and  will  proceed  to 
show  that  the  thing  supposed  is  absolutely  impossible 
in  fact,  and  that  the  conjecture  is  destroyed  by  the 
very  science  which  is  made  to  assert  it. 

It  is  conceded  that  there  is  such  a  substance  as 
matter,  and  that  it  is  invariably  characterized  by  cer- 
tain necessarily-acting  impersonal  forces,  known  as 
chemical  and  mechanical;  and  that  it  is  found  occasion- 
ally to  have  associated  with  it  another  force,  or  cluster 


PERSONAL  CAUSE.  21 

of  forces,  known  as  vital.  But  it  is  denied  that  it  is 
the  only  substance,  or  that  it  is  eternal,  or  that  the 
inhering  forces  are  original  to  it,  or  that  it  accounts  for 
all  cosmical  changes.  The  ground  of  our  denial  is 
not  simply  that  the  case  is  not  made  out,  but  that  it 
is  self-destructive  and  impossible.  How  this  appears 
we  will  proceed  to  show.  In  two  ways  science  de- 
monstrates, with  absolute  certainty,  that  the  material 
cosmos  exists  under  the  conditions  of  time,  both  as  to 
its  substance  and  fashion. 

By  means  of  geological  records  we  are  conducted 
back  over  the  track  of  cosmical  history,  through  a 
succession  of  well-defined  changes,  until,  having  pen- 
etrated below  the  earliest  memorial  of  life,  we  find  our- 
selves standing  upon  the  glowing  crystals  of  a  newly 
formed  world.  The  demonstration  is  complete,  that 
all  life,  and  all  conditions  of  possible  life,  had  begin- 
ning. In  fact,  we  find  the  dates  legibly  traced  when 
each  event  occurred.  Science  is  no  more  certain  of 
any  thing  than  it  is  of  this.  Chemical  science  takes 
up  and  continues  the  history.  It  conducts  us  to  a  still 
more  primitive  condition.  Seizing  the  solid  substances 
of  the  glowing  mass,  it  decomposes  them,  and  reduces 
them  to  their  original  molecular  elements.  This,  it 
tells  us,  was  the  primal  condition  of  the  universe,  the 
original  state  of  all  known  compounds.  The  demon- 
stration thus  carries  us  not  simply  to  the  dawn  of  life, 
but  to  a  period  antedating  the  organization  of  matter 
itself.  All  that  remains  to  us  are  the  ultimate  atoms, 
the  primordial  elements,  the  absolute  protoplasts.  But 
these  immediately  discover  to  us  that  each  and  every 
infinitesimal   part   is   the   home  of  a   definite  force, 


22  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

which  will  unerringly,  and  without  shadow  of  varia- 
tion, determine  its  alliances  and  necessitate  its  com- 
binations forever.  It  is  a  truth,  therefore,  that  when 
we  form  the  acquaintance  of  matter  in  its  most  rudi- 
mental  and  primitive  state,  it  is  the  home  of  a  force, 
or,  rather,  forces,  which  necessarily  evolve. 

But  now  observe  the  insurmountable  objection  to 
the  supposition  that  matter  and  the  forces  are  original 
and  eternal — the  irresistible  demonstration,  in  fact, 
that  the  forces  at  least  had  a  beginning.  We  have  al- 
ready seen  that,  guided  by  geological  science,  we  are 
able  to  go  back  over  the  line  of  all  the  effects  which 
have  transpired  in  the  cosmos,  up  to  the  very  dawn  of 
cosmical  phenomena !  Chemical  analysis  takes  us  by 
the  hand,  and  leads  us  back  through  other  changes, 
until  we  are  brought  to  discrete  elements,  behind 
which  it  is  impossible  there  should  have  been  any 
evolutions  or  changes  of  any  kind.  The  whole  history 
of  the  evolution  of  forces  lies  before  us,  therefore  un- 
der our  gaze,  and  falls  within  the  limits  of  time.  We 
have  traced  the  river  to  its  source  ;  we  have  mounted 
the  stream  of  consecutive  effects  until  we  have  found 
the  beginning,  the  fissure  in  the  rock  whence  it  bursts. 
Standing  here  at  the  top  of  the  ages,  and  looking  back- 
ward over  the  dreary  wastes  of  an  eventless  eternity, 
we  raise  the  question,  how  these  forces,  assuming 
them  to  have  existed,  which  is  the  postulate  of  science, 
were  employed  during  this  immeasurable  duration. 
They  could  not  have  existed,  and  yet  have  remained 
inactive ;  for  science  postulates  that  activity  is  their 
necessity.  They  were  not  active;  for  we  have  found 
them  in  the  very  act  of  their  primal  evolution.     The 


PERSONAL   CAUSE.  2$ 

demonstration  is,  therefore,  that  they  were  not  at  all. 
They  are  themselves  creations,  and  so  far  from  ac- 
counting for  the  cosmos,  they  are  but  an  included  part 
of  it  which  needs  to  be  accounted  for. 

The  case  is  thus  put  by  an  American  scientist  of 
growing  eminence  and  merited  distinction.  Having 
propounded  the  molecular  condition  of  matter,  he 
says  :  "  This  condition  of  matter  is  necessarily  primor- 
dial. As  matter  could  not  have  remained  in  such  a 
condition — as,  in  fact,  it  did  not  remain  in  such  a  con- 
dition— the  career  of  matter  must  have  had  a  com- 
mencement. Its  evolutions  are  not  from  eternity.  As 
its  earliest  existence  involves  an  evanescent  condition, 
the  existence  of  matter  had  a  commencement.  It  be- 
gan to  exist  only  when  it  began  to  change."*  How- 
ever it  may  be  with  regard  to  the  very  substance  of 
matter  itself,  the  demonstration  is  complete  and  per- 
fect, that  what  are  called  the  inhering  forces  fall 
under  the  category  of  time ;  that  they  are  not  and 
can  not  be  eternal ;  and  if  they  are  necessary  quanti- 
ties in  the  constituency  of  matter,  as  scientists  declare, 
then  by  necessity  matter  itself  is  demonstrated  to  fall 
within  the  category  of  time  ;  but  whether  it  do  or 
not,  it  is  demonstrated  to  be  no  cause  of  the  cosmos. 

But,  given  matter  and  what  are  called  inherent  and 
eternal  forces,  we  are  still  as  far  as  ever  from  account- 
ing for  the  cosmos.  We  have  found  a  cause,  but  not 
the  cause.  A  cause  that  is  not  the  cause  to  the  effect 
in  question,  is  no  cause.  The  cause  carries  in  it  the 
entire  effect ;  for  as  the  effect  can  have  nothing  which  it 
does  not  derive  from  its  cause,  it  must  then  have  been 

*  Prof.  Winchell,  of  the  Michigan  University. 


24  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

in  the  cause.  An  unskilled  laborer  is  a  cause  ;  but  as 
to  the  production  of  a  chronometer,  or  an  oration  of 
yEschines,  or  Leonardo  Da  Vinci's  Last  Supper,  he  is 
no  cause.  The  forces  are  a  cause,  but  not  the  cause, 
of  the  cosmos.  They  are  cause  to  definite  effects,  but 
not  cause  to  this  culminated  effect.  There  is  that  in 
this  effect  which  is  no  more  in  them  than  Handel's 
Messiah  is  in  the  accidental  rattle  of  the  farmer's  cart, 
or  one  of  Mozart's  great  symphonies,  or  Haydn's  Ora- 
torio of  the  Judgment,  in  the  jingle  of  sleigh-bells. 
For,  observe,  the  completed  cosmos  is  not  simply  a 
mass  held  by  force  of  gravitation,  massed  by  cohesive 
attraction,  assorted  by  chemical  affinity,  magnetized 
by  electro-galvanism,  turned  into  globes  by  evolutions 
of  force  ;  it  is  more  than  all  this :  it  is  an  arranged 
and  adjusted  unity,  reached  by  taking  the  discrete 
forces  and  combining  them  into  one  great,  universal 
whole,  of  ineffable  ingenuity  and  skill ;  a  plan  in  which* 
each  distinct  part  exists  for  a  purpose,  is  controlled 
by  a  purpose,  is  subjugated  to  a  purpose!  We  must 
find  the  home  of  this  purpose — this  factor  that  subju- 
gates and  makes  slaves  of  all  the  other  forces — if  we 
would  account  for  the  cosmos.  The  purpose  displayed 
is  as  veritable  a  fact,  as  well  known  and  accredited  a 
reality,  as  chemical  affinity,  or  cohesive  attraction,  or 
electricity,  and  can  no  more  be  ignored  in  solving  the 
problem  than  can  gravitation.  But  while  it  is  as  much 
a  reality  as  the  other  forces,  it  is  discrete,  is  a  force 
itself;  not  a  mere  resultant,  not  an  accident.  Nay,  it 
is  seen  to  be  not  only  a  force  discrete,  existing  apart 
from  the  others  in. its  own  right,  but  seen  to  be  the 
most  masterful  of  all,  taking  the  others  and  compelling 


PERSONAL   CAUSE.  2$ 

them  to  do  its  behests.  Now,  this  august  power, 
this  causa  causarum,  must  be  accounted  for ;  this  om- 
nipotent purposing  agent,  forcing  all  forces  to  work 
out  its  design,  to  accomplish  its  will,  nay,  his  will,  for 
we  are  beyond  things ;  he  will  insist  that  we  notice 
him.  Where  shall  we  find  his  home?  Is  he,  like 
gravitation,  a  discrete  quantity  of  all  matter  ?  Science 
goes  forth  with  its  instruments  of  inquisitorial  torture, 
and  subjects  all  substances  to  the  "  experimentum 
cruris"  and  each  atom,  even  to  the  last,  responds,  It  is 
not  in  me.  All,  with  one  accord,  point  backward,  and 
declare  with  one  voice,  We  know  not  of  either  our  be- 
ginning or  the  cause  that  we  are  as  we  are.  Each 
respondent  says,  I  am  not  my  own  master  ;  I  am  the 
slave  of  another  whose  bidding  I  do.  This  is  the  tes- 
timony of  all  nature  extorted  by  science ;  nay,  not  ex- 
torted, though  delivered  in  the  processes  which  wrench 
atom  from  atom,  but  joyously  uttered  in  the  ear  of 
reason.  Thus  it  is  discovered  that  a  pre-existing  will- 
force,  guided  by  unerring  intelligence,  lies  behind  all 
so-called  natural  forces,  giving  them  existence,  or 
guiding  them  as  it  will  to  the  accomplishment  of  its 
own  imperial  behests.  No  approach  is  made  toward 
explaining  cause  until  we  reach  the  unific  force  in  its 
transcendental  home. 

But  we  have  only  begun  to  intimate  the  insuperable 
difficulties  which  science  herself  interjects  against  the 
theory  that  inherent  forces  of  matter  account  for  the 
cosmos,  without  the  aid  of  a  personal  cause.  I  will 
name  one  more.  Starting  with  the  protoplastic,  or 
primordial,  state  of  matter,  we  have  the  molecules  in 
severance,  each  with  its  definite  affinity;  the  whole 


26  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

lying  disseminated  over  the  infinite  fields  of  space — 
wider  than  the  boundaries  where  outermost  suns  now 
flame  their  glare  upon  the  fields  of  ancient  night. 
Forthwith,  by  a  uniform  necessity,  atom  rushes  to  the 
embrace  of  atom  ;  the  infinite  abyss  trembles  into 
visible  fiery  forms  ;  masses  segregate  and  press  in- 
ward toward  their  centers  ;  each  severed  mass  be- 
comes the  nucleus  of  a  system  of  worlds.  It  is  the 
splendid  exordium  of  creation's  pomp.  Then  follow 
ages — how  long,  science  will  only  aid  us  to  conjecture, 
but  tells  us,  almost  eternal — before  the  flaming  vor- 
tices became  orderly,  quiet,  globes  of  glowing  homo- 
geneous matter;  myriads  of  ages  more,  and  the 
molten  masses  have  cooled,  and  their  solid  surfaces 
present  the  appearance  of  a  crystal  cosmos,  each 
globe  a  radiant  flaming  crystal  in  itself;  infinite  ages 
more  muster  out  to  the  drum-beat  of  the  rolling 
spheres,  and  yet  it  is  an  azoic  cosmos  ;  ages  how  long 
since  the  morning  broke,  and  yet  no  eye  to  behold  the 
pomp  ;  a  universe  without  life !  Whence  shall  life 
come  ?  The  universe  says,  It  is  not  in  me  ;  each  crys- 
tal world  says,  It  is  not  in  me  ;  the  mechanical  and 
chemical  forces  cry  out,  It  is  not  in  us  ;  we  fashioned 
these  worlds,  but  we  have  no  power  to  make  a  tree, 
or  even  a  seed,  an  embryo,  or  an  animal.  Thus, 
science  again  tells  us,  we  must  find  help  ab  extra. 

There  is  a  curious  problem  right  in  this  connection, 
which  we  would  be  pleased  to  have  solved  by  that 
class  of  scientists  who  would  explain  all  being  by  inher- 
ent laws  of  matter,  or  by  inherent  forces  acting  uni- 
formly and  necessarily ;  it  is  this  :  How,  that  is,  in 
what  order,  did  they,  the  forces,  introduce  life  ?     Did 


PERSONAL   CAUSE.  2J 

they  first  evolve  a  seed,  and  from  it  grow  a  plant ;  or 
did  they  first  make  a  plant  without  a  seed  ?  We  are 
curious  to  know  the  answer.  One  of  the  two  alterna- 
tives must  have  been  the  order  at  the  beginning;  for 
in  no  other  way  could  life  arise.  But  whichever  alter- 
native be  taken,  science  presents  a  difficulty  which  is 
insurmountable.  The  thesis  of  science  is,  the  forces 
act  uniformly  and  necessarily  ;  but  now,  it  is  known, 
no  forces  make  a  seed-life  without  a  parent  plant  to 
produce  it,  and  no  forces  make  a  plant-life  without  a 
seed  to  grow  it.  The  necessary  and  eternal  forces,  if 
they  be  sole  factors,  it  is  thus  seen,  must  have  changed 
their  method  ;  and  this  is  what  science  says  can  not 
be.  Nothing  is  more  settled,  or  scientifically  certain, 
than  that  there  was  a  time  when  there  was  no  life  on 
this  planet,  and  that  there  was  a  time  when  it  began ; 
and  no  man  is  warranted  in  saying  that  any  explana- 
tion has  been  given  of  its  origin,  except  by  absolute 
creation.  To  pretend  the  contrary  is  unscrupulous 
audacity,  or  unaccountable  dullness. 

I  quote  from  Chadbourne  another  form  of  putting 
the  same  point:  "Life  is  only  manifested  in  connec- 
tion with  organization.  Did  the  vital  principle  seize 
upon  matter  and  organize  it?  This  would  imply  that 
it  resides  somewhere  free  from  matter.  Is  vitality  a 
force  accidental  in  its  manifestation,  correlated  to  some 
other  force  developed  by  the  relationship  of  different 
kinds  of  matter  ;  or  was  matter  first  organized  by  a 
creator,  and  then  life  joined  to  it?  There  are  those 
who  accept  the  second  supposition,  and  believe  in 
spontaneous  generation,  the  production  of  life  from 
matter  and  physical  forces,  and  the  evolution  of  higher 


28  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

types  by  development  from  lower.  We  pass,  for  the 
present,  the  geologic  argument,  which  we  believe  to 
be  conclusive  against  this  theory,  and  ask  its  support- 
ers how  it  comes  to  pass  that  the  physical  forces  tend 
to  originate  an  organism,  when,  the  moment  it  is  pro- 
duced, they  tend  to  destroy  it.  And  it  is  a  remarkable 
fact,  that  some  authors  who  have  expressed  their  be- 
lief in  the  production  of  life  through  chemical  forces, 
have  also  expressed  their  belief  in  the  antagonism  of 
life  and  those  forces.  We  leave  to  them  the  task  of 
harmonizing  their  own  views.  The  organic  being 
struggles  for  existence,  and  lives  only  because  the 
vital  principle  holds  in  abeyance  the  physical  forces, 
and  makes  them  its  servants.  In  a  certain  sense,  it 
is  true  that  the  physical  forces  build  up  all  organic 
structures  ;  but  the  moment  vitality  is  gone,  they  tear 
down  the  structures  which  they  have  unwillingly  la- 
bored to  construct  under  its  control,  and  they  cease 
not  their  work  until  every  particle  has  taken  the  inor- 
ganic form.  In  the  perfectly  adjusted  steam-engine, 
moving  the  ship  against  wind  and  tide,  or  weaving 
finest  fabrics  with  iron  fingers,  it  seems  to  the 
thoughtful  observer  that  the  steam  is  a  willing  serv- 
ant, binding  its  energies  to  the  work.  But  the  mis- 
sion of  the  steam  is  to  shatter  and  destroy.  It  rushes 
into  the  cylinder,  not  to  move  the  machinery,  but  in 
the  very  hatred  of  itself,  and  struggles  to  escape.  It 
is  the  genius  of  man  that  controls  the  struggling  mon- 
ster by  bands  of  iron  too  strong  for  him  to  break,  till, 
in  his  rage,  he  lifts  the  piston  and  moves  the  swift 
machinery  as  he  darts  howling  into  the  air.  Thus, 
also,  does  vitality  control  and  use  the  adverse  forces 


PERSONAL  CAUSE.  2$ 

of  the  inorganic  world.  As  well  might  we  think  that 
the  steam  which  drives  the  piston  originated  the  loco- 
motive, or  the  locomotive  the  engineer  that  controls 
it,  as  to  think  that  life  is  the  offspring  of  electricity 
or  any  other  physical  force.  It  is  latest  born  of  all 
the  forces,  if  it  is  proper  to  call  it  a  force  at  all ;  and 
the  time  may  come  when  it  will  vanish  from  our  globe, 
and  leave  the  physical  forces  victors  on  the  field.  But 
while  it  is  here  it  holds  its  ground  by  warfare.  It 
builds  up  only  through  the  agency  of  the  physical 
forces.  They  build  organized  beings  only  under  its 
control.  We  have  of  late  had  the  announcement  made 
that  we  must  expunge  from  our  text-books  the  asser- 
tion that  the  vital  principle  overrides  or  controls  the 
chemical  forces.  We  may  expunge  it  from  the  text- 
books ;  but  we  might  as  well  expunge  the  satellites  of 
Jupiter  or  the  planet  Neptune  from  our  astronomies." 
How  the  absurdity  grows  as  our  examination 
advances  !  Even  yet  we  have  not  seen  its  utmost 
folly.  Suppose,  now,  we  could  account  for  life,  or  if 
not  account  for  its  introduction,  let  us  agree  that  in 
some  way  it  did  arise  from  the  impersonal  forces,  or 
was  itself,  as  the  old  Anaximandrian  or  Democritical 
speculatists  conjecture,  a  primitive,  plastic,  or  sper- 
matic matter.  In  any  event,  when  the  time  arrived 
for  its  achievements,  it  was  here.  It  came  in  among 
the  old  forces  as  soon  as  they  had  made  suitable  ar- 
rangements for  its  advent.  It  was  one  of  those  an- 
cient, beautiful  mornings,  when  the  crystal  hills  and 
valleys  were  all  aglow,  and  the  tepid  rivers  were  run- 
ning into  the  boiling  seas,  that  it  came.  The  older 
forces  had  completed  their  work.    It  had  taken  a  great 


30  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

time ;  but  there  it  was,  a  grand  accomplished  fact 
Gravitation  had  parceled  out  the  ancient  mass  into 
suitable  divisions ;  cohesive  attraction  had  welded 
them  into  separate  unities  ;  chemical  affinity  had  gone 
among  the  particles,  and  sorted  them  into  homologous 
compounds ;  electro-galvanic  force  had  magnetized  the 
whole  with  its  wizard  spell ;  motion,  resultant  of  all 
the  forces,  had  rounded  them  into  orbs ;  order  had 
arisen  out  of  chaos ;  the  suns  had  taken  their  allotted 
stations,  and,  as  became  the  dignity  of  such  grave 
bodies,  had  adjusted  themselves  to  fixedness ;  the  sec- 
ondaries and  their  satellites  had  come  to  know  their 
orbits  and  seasons ;  the  climatic  and  atmospheric  con- 
ditions were  balanced  and  orderly ;  the  whole  machine 
was  finished  and  lubricated  and  running  beautifully, 
without  a  creak  or  jar.  Throughout  the  infinite  sys- 
tem there  was  not  a  pin  out  of  order,  or  a  cord  or 
pulley  astray.  It  was  a  wonderful  piece  of  mechan- 
ism, seeing  that  it  was  the  blind  forces  that  did  it, 
without  intending  to  do  any  thing  of  the  kind.  Could 
an  infinite  mind  have  done  better  ?  It  was  a  beau- 
tiful morning,  we  said.  The  old  forces  had  gathered 
together  to  hold  a  jubilee.  Great  was  their  joy  over 
the  works  of  their  hands.  But  it  soon  became  appar- 
ent that  they  were  not  content.  This  might  seem 
unreasonable ;  but,  then,  they  were  mere  forces  of  dull 
matter,  how  could  they  be  expected  to  be  reasonable? 
Gravitation  broke  the  silence  in  an  address,  it  may  be, 
something  like  the  following: 

"  Most  noble  peers  !  great  and  mighty  potentates  ! 
I  have  called  you  together,  as  seemed  to  be  most  fit- 
ting, that  we  might  rejoice  together  over  the  completed 


PERSONAL  CAUSE.  3 1 

work  of  our  hands.  Was  ever  any  thing  more  glori- 
ous ?  Your  royal  highness,  Cohesive  Attraction,  could 
not  have  acted  more  admirably.  You  have  consoli- 
dated your  atomic  subjects,  and  bound  them  up  in 
bonds  more  indissoluble  than  steel  or  iron.  And  what 
shall  I  say  of  the  perfection  of  skill  and  taste  displayed 
by  your  majesty,  Chemical  Affinity?  But,  most  wor- 
shipful peers,  is  there  nothing  more  that  we  can  do  ? 
Have  our  resources  entirely  failed,  and  must  we  now 
subside  into  inglorious  indolence?  You  see,  we  have 
already  used  up  all  the  atoms ;  and  if  we  are  not 
henceforth  to  content  ourselves  in  listless  inaction,  we 
must  hit  upon  some  new  device,  which,  by  its  ingen- 
ious contrivance,  will  give  us  permanent  employment, 
and,  by  its  kaleidoscopic  changes,  give  us  ever  new 
delight/' 

The  suggestions  of  the  president  were  listened  to 
with  profound  attention,  and  gave  great  satisfaction. 
They  sat  for  many  days  in  council,  and  were  sore  put 
about  by  the  difficulty  of  devising  how  to  proceed. 
Gravitation  said :  "  I  wish  I  could  do  something  more ; 
but  your  royal  highnesses  know  that,  though  my  power 
is  very  extended,  embracing  and  holding  all  these  worlds 
under  my  absolute  authority,  yet,  in  duty  I  confess  it, 
this  is  the  only  thing  that  I  can  do ;  eternal  ne- 
cessity limits  me.  I  can  hold  the  vast  system  that 
we  have  built  in  harmonious  movement  forever; 
every  atom  is  my  slave;  but  'directly  as  the  mass, 
and  inversely  as  the  square  of  the  distance/  is  my 
necessity." 

Cohesive  Attraction  expressed  regrets  also,  but 
found  it  impossible  to  do  more  than  he  had  already 


32  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

done.  "  I  can  not  transcend  my  necessity,  which  is, 
to  weld  the  mass  into  unity  and  solidarity." 

Attention  being  turned  to  Chemical  Affinity,  he 
said:  "  Most  worthy  colleagues,  you  have  proof  of  my 
industry,  and  also  my  skill ;  but  I,  too,  am  limited, 
as  yourselves.  I  unite  affinitive  particles,  and  make 
curious  compounds,  but  the  stubborn  atoms  will  obey 
me  only  according  to  definitive  and  ancient  compacts. 
They  have  strange  antipathies,  as  well  as  strong 
friendships ;  and  I  can  neither  coax  nor  drive  them 
out  of  their  prejudices." 

They  were  in  despair  at  this  speech ;  for  they  had 
found  their  colleague  so  fecund  of  great  and  curious 
devices,  that  they  had  made  much  reckoning  on  his 
reserved  power.  There  was  yet  one  hope :  Electricity 
might  meet  the  emergency.  All  eyes  were  turned  to 
this  gay  cavalier.  What  he  said  was  not  reported, 
and  men  have  never  been  able  to  find  out;  but  it 
suffices,  by  some  strange  device — a  marriage  of  some 
kind — a  sub-rosa,  star-chamber,  secret  arrangement, 
whose  mystery  has  never  been  lifted — they  did,  among 
them,  hit  upon  a  happy  expedient.  When  the  curtain 
was  lifted,  a  new  personage  was  discovered  in  the 
council — his  imperial  highness,  Vital  Force.  Great 
was  the  joy  of  his  welcome.  For  millions  of  ages 
'the  lifeless  orbs  had  revolved  through  space  unten- 
anted, beauteous  in  crystal  forms,  and  lustrous  with 
the  radiance  of  many  suns,  but  empty  of  flower  and 
plumage  and  song.  The  new  artist  entered  at  once 
upon  his  work.  First  he  went  out  over  the  hills  and 
valleys  on  a  tour  of  observation,  to  see  what  it  would 
be  wise  to  do.     He  found  that  Atmospheric  Action, 


PERSONAL  CAUSE.  33 

Force  of  Gravity,  and  Mechanical  Attrition  had  broken 
off  the  crystals,  and  formed  loose  earth ;  and  that 
Chemistry  had  prepared  a  transparent  fluid,  which 
often  became  vapor,  and,  rising  up  into  the  air,  was 
drifted  by  the  winds  over  the  lands,  until,  condensing, 
it  fell  in  showers,  moistening  the  fragments,  and 
spreading  them  out  into  soft  and  movable  soils,  and 
he  said,  "These  singular  conditions  are  just  to  my 
hand  ;"  so  Vital  Force  filled  his  apron  full  of  seeds, 
and  with  the  speed  of  wind  he  flew  around  the  world, 
and  planted  it  all  over  with  most  various  and  curious 
germs,  and  told  them  to  grow;  and  when  the  earth 
had  passed  half-way  through  its  annual  orbit,  it  was 
coated  with  beautiful  grasses,  and  many-colored  and 
scented  flowers  and  herbs  ;  and  Gravitation  and  Co- 
hesive Attraction  and  Chemical  Affinity  and  Mag- 
netism clapped  their  hands,  and  shouted  themselves 
hoarse,  until  the  universe  was  filled  with  the  resound- 
ing echo,  "Eureka!  Eureka!"  Then  they  said:  "It  is 
a  beautiful  cosmos  ;  but  why  should  flowers  bloom,  and 
trees  and  herbage  grow,  purposeless  ?  Go  to,  now,  let 
us  do  something  more  wonderful  still."  Then  they 
summoned  their  great  captain  again,  and  told  him  how 
delighted  they  were  with  his  matchless  work ;  but  lest 
he  might  be  proud  and  vain  in  his  imagination,  they 
gently  reminded  him  that,  whatever  he  was  in  great- 
ness and  skill,  he  was  their  offspring.  But  it  occurred 
to  Electro-Magnetism,  who,  somehow,  seemed  to 
have  special  pride  in  Vital  Force,  possibly  because  he 
had  engendered  him — be  that  as  it  may,  it  occurred  to 
him  to  suggest  whether  it  was  not  possible  that  some 
other  kinds  of  living  things  might  be  made.     Vital 

4 


34  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

Force  said  he  would  think  about  the  suggestion,  and 
put  his  head  to  work  to  see  what  might  be  done,  and 
report  at  a  future  meeting ;  and  all  retired  well  pleased. 
Vital  Force  went  immediately  to  his  study,  and 
noted  down  the  hint  of  Electro-Magnetism,  and  set 
apart  a  day  for  its  consideration.  The  more  he 
thought,  the  more  interested  he  became.  The  curious 
things  that  came  into  his  head,  and  mustered  before 
his  imagination,  were  almost  suggestive  of  intelli- 
gence. Finally,  after  a  long  time — no  doubt  Electro- 
Magnetism  had  forgotten  all  about  the  hint  dropped 
ages  before — the  whole  matter  opened  with  the  clear- 
ness of  sunrise  upon  the  view  of  the  unwearied 
student.  Taking  his  hand  from  his  aching  head,  and 
leaping  into  the  air  with  a  flash,  he  shouted,  "Eu- 
reka !" — he  had  learned  the  word  from  the  old  forces. 
He  had  discovered  how  to  make  creatures,  having 
power  of  locomotion,  who  should  subsist  on  the  very 
herbs  which  he  had  already  set  growing  on  the  earth, 
and  in  the  sea  ;  creatures  that  could  swim  in  the  seas, 
and  fly  in  the  air,  and  run  up  and  down  the  world 
on  legs  ;  creatures  with  stomachs  and  mouths  and  ar- 
ticulated frames  ;  with  eyes  and  ears  and  song ;  of 
many  kinds,  from  the  littleness  of  a  mote  to  the  large- 
ness of  a  whale.  So  he  went  out  one  morning,  when 
the  trees  were  waving  in  the  sunlight,  and  the  grasses 
were  growing  thick  along  the  brooks,  and  commenced 
his  work.  He  never  told  any  body  the  secret,  so  we 
know  not  how  he  began.  But  begin  he  did  ;  and  di- 
rectly the  seas  and  the  air  and  the  earth  were  swarm- 
ing with  all  manner  of  fishes  and  birds  and  beasts. 
It  seemed  almost  as  if  the  old  forces  had  some  dim 


PERSONAL   CAUSE.  35 

prophecy,  and,  in  fact,  as  if  they  had  worked  with  refer- 
ence to  this  state  of  things  ;  as  if  the  soils  were  made 
on  purpose  for  the  seeds,  and  the  herbs  for  the  stom- 
achs, and  light  for  the  eyes,  and  air  for  the  lungs. 
It  really  looked  like  it ;  but  of  course  it  was  not  so. 
Blind  forces  do  work  so  strangely  sometimes ! 

But  we  have  not  reached  the  greatest  puzzle  yet. 
When  the  forces  came  together  again  to  rejoice  over 
the  grand  whole,  the  completed  cosmos,  they  were  in 
ecstasies ;  and  then  they  bethought  them,  that  a  thing 
of  such  beauty  and  manifold  purpose  ought  to  have  a 
sovereign  ;  and  they  joined  together  on  the  spot,  and 
made  a  man,  and  set  him  over  it  all.  Then  they 
stopped  creation,  and  went  into  the  trades.  They 
became  farmers  and  boss-carpenters,  and  workers  in 
stone  and  brass  and  iron,  and  dealers  in  curious  in- 
struments, and  projectors  of  great  traffic  ;  inventors 
and  artists  and  authors ;  they  built  railroads  and 
steam-ships,  and  wove  a  web  of  electric  telegraph 
over  the  surface  of  the  world  ;  built  cities,  founded 
commonwealths,  wrote  laws  ;  they  made  telescopes, 
and  constructed  astronomy  ;  they  speculated  on  their 
own  doings,  and  wrote  books  about  it,  and  laughed  at 
the  jokes  they  practiced  on  each  other.  Among  their 
grand  feats  in  authorship  were  Milton's  matchless 
dream,  and  Shakspeare's  witching  tragedies.  The 
world,  in  all  its  highways  and  byways,  is  full  of  their 
creations.  In  song,  they  composed  Handel's  Mes- 
siah ;  in  color,  they  painted  Raphael's  Madonna.  It 
is  strange,  is  it  not,  what  the  blind  forces  did  and 
what  they  still  are  doing!  One  can  hardly  credit 
what  he  sees  and  hears  of  them. 


36  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

A  bold  attempt  to  reach  unity  of  substance  ap- 
pears in  a  late  number  of  the  North  British  Review, 
and  ingenious  as  bold.  The  writer  says  :  "All  true 
philosophy  seeks  to  be  universal,  to  contemplate  the 
universe  as  a  whole,  possessed  of  an  intrinsic  unity. 
Hence,  all  true  philosophy  must  assume  that  the  dual- 
ism of  mind  and  matter  is  only  an  apparent  dualism, 
and  that  beneath  lies  a  more  comprehensive  unity.  .  . 
There  are  two  ways  in  which  a  philosopher  may  at- 
tempt, as  far  as  he  is  able,  to  exhibit  the  unity  of  mat- 
ter and  mind,  or,  to  use  a  better  term,  spirit.  He 
may  set  down  matter  as  an  ultimate,  and  make  spirit 
a  function  of  matter ;  or  he  may  set  down  spirit  as 
ultimate,  and  make  matter  a  function  of  spirit."  For 
himself  he  says :  "  I  hold,  then,  that  all  substratum  or 
substance  is  of  a  spiritual  nature  ;  that  the  external 
world  is  definable  as  the  perpetual  interchange  of  im- 
pressions between  spiritual  beings.  Body  is  strictly 
definable  as  the  manifestation  of  spirit  to  spirit. 
Wherein  does  positive  existence  consist  ?  I  reply,  in 
the  spiritual  basis  of  phenomena.  Phenomena  are  the 
impressions  which  spirit  makes  upon  spirit."  An- 
other late  writer,  an  American,  holds  :  "  The  inmost 
principle  is  the  Divine  life  itself;  not  the  Divine  es- 
sence, as  the  pantheist  would  say,  but  an  effluence 
from  it,  whence  all  the  qualities  of  matter  are  but  as 
leaves  and  blossoms  from  a  stem.  And  is  it  not 
therefore  true — not  that  he  created  it  once  out  of 
nothing — but  that  he  creates  it  every  moment  out  of 
himself?  And  does  not  the  great  truth  begin  to 
dawn  upon  us,  that  the  relation  of  creator  and  created 
subsists  all  the  while,  and  if  suspended  for  a  single 


PERSONAL   CAUSE.  37 

instant,  the  universe  vanishes,  like  a  bubble  that 
breaks  in  air  ?" 

So  far  forth  as  these  and  similar  utterances,  which 
may  be  found  interlarding  the  spiritual  philosophy,  so 
called,  and  the  advanced  theology  of  the  times,  simply 
mean  to  affirm  that  God  is  ultimate,  we  accept  them  ; 
but  so  far  as  they  are  pantheistic — deifying  matter  or 
materializing  Divine  essence — we  discard  them  as  un- 
scientific, as  puerile  nescience. 

Between  God  and  all  finite  existence  there  is  ab- 
solute otherness,  and  not  identity.  They  have  no 
attribute  in  common.  Science  finds  God  nowhere 
among  things  ;  but  it  finds  nothing  that  does  not 
point  onward  to  him.  The  telescope  of  the  astrono- 
mer, sweeping  the  scope  of  sidereal  heavens,  nowhere 
gets  a  glimpse  of  their  Maker ;  but  every  shining  orb 
proclaims  his  invisible  presence  and  power.  The  mi- 
croscope of  the  naturalist  has  no  lens  strong  enough 
to  take  the  tissue  of  his  essence,  but  announces  his 
sustaining  agency  under  every  infinitesimal  life.  The 
retort  of  the  chemist  decomposes  all  substances,  with- 
out disclosing  his  essence ;  but  it  finds  no  nicest  grain 
of  impalpable  matter  that  bears  not  his  impress.  He 
hides  behind  the  lightnings,  and  the  luminiferous 
ether  is  but  the  sheen  of  his  garment. 

The  wild  dream  of  atheism  and  pantheism  is  as 
ancient  as  speculative  thought.  Long  before  Democ- 
ritus  and  Leucippus,  the  elder  atomists,  it  flourished 
in  the  East.  No  age  has  been  without  its  advocates. 
The  weird  and  marvelous  developments  of  modern 
science  furnished  it  a  new  opportunity  to  repair  its 
broken  fortunes,  and,  with  amazing  genius,  it  sought 


38  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

to  suborn  the  new  evangel.  But  it  has  signally  failed. 
Science  scorns  the  alliance.  Against  the  profane  at- 
tempt to  merge  the  infinite  and  the  created  into  unity, 
it  is  as  loud  and  angry  in  its  protest  as  its  older-born 
and  diviner  sister,  revelation.  Equally  they  forbid 
the  banns.  Causation  is  scientifically,  as  well  as  Bib- 
lically, severed  from  matter.  Its  home  is  determined 
in  the  transcendental,  metaphysical.  Force  comes  to 
unity  in  spirit.  As  every  invention  first  comes  to 
reality  in  thought  before  it  bodies  in  form  ;  as  every 
end  exists  first  in  idea  before  it  becomes  incorporate, 
so  it  is  a  dictum  of  science,  and  a  necessity  of  thought, 
that  all  material  atoms,  having  affinities  or  ends,  were 
first  ideal,  mental,  existent  simply  in  thought,  and 
were  evolved  into  reality  by  the  fiat  of  the  thinker.  If 
any  thing  is  demonstrated,  it  is,  that  personal  cause  is 
the  necessity  of  the  universe,  and  that  the  universe, 
existing  by  personal  cause,  is  distinct  from  it. 

I  have  not  designed,  of  course,  to  give  the  argu- 
ment, but  only  to  indicate  the  relations  of  modern 
science  to  the  question.  While  the  heavens  spread 
their  starry  arches  above  us,  and  the  earth  and  the 
air  and  the  sea  pulsate  with  life  and  thought  about  us, 
God  will  not  be  without  a  witness.  Every  law  of 
science  is  finger-boarded,  "  This  way  leads  to  God." 


Lecture  II. 


ORIGIN    OF    LIFE: 

git  Bxamfnatton  of  guilts- 


REV.  RANDOLPH    S.  FOSTER,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

President  of  the  Drew  Theological  Seminary, 


Madison,  New  Jersey. 


h 


ECTURE  II. 


ORIGIN   OF  LIFE. 

EXAMINATION    OF    HUXLEY. 

HAVING  established  the  existence  of  eternal, 
spiritual,  intelligent  will-force,  as  alone  spon- 
taneous, and  as  causative  of  all  material  forces,  which 
have  their  evolutions  in  time,  and  which  are  necessi- 
tated in  their  evolutions,  and  which  also  are  subordi- 
nated to  the  ends  of  ultimate  and  complex  plans  and 
arrangements,  for  a  higher  unity,  we  are  prepared  to 
advance  to  the  discussion  of  the  mode  in  which  this 
great  factor  proceeded  to  construct  living  organisms. 

There  are  two  questions,  not  always  separated  in 
thought,  but  extremely  distinct,  lying  in  the  embrace 
of  this  great  problem.  They  need  both  to  be  dealt 
with,  and  in  severance ;  the  closing  of  neither,  alone, 
ends  the  great  debate.  The  first,  relates  to  the  origin 
of  life  ;  the  second,  to  the  origin  of  the  diversified 
forms  in  which  life  shrines  itself. 

The  first  is  treated  by  Professor  Huxley,  more 
specifically;  while  the  second  is  the  main  subject  of 
Darwin's  elaborate  dissertations.  In  the  current  par- 
lance, they  are  jointly  spoken  of  as  Darwinism. 

5  4i 


42  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

The  conclusions  of  these  noted,  perhaps  we  should 
say  eminent,  scientists,  are  received  by  multitudes  of 
admirers,  as  final  on  all  questions  with  regard  to 
which  they  express  opinions.  It  is,  indeed,  deemed 
real  impertinence,  in  some  circles,  to  intimate  a  doubt, 
or  raise  a  suspicion,  that  possibly  they  may  not  be 
quite  infallible  ;  and  it  would  be  a  bold  venture  in 
even  a  specialist,  to  dissent  from  them  on  a  scientific 
issue.  But  they  are  not  the  only  eminent  scientists 
who  have  uncovered  a  weak  spot  in  attempting  to  pre- 
scribe mere  conjectures  for  science.  Even  Achilles 
was  vincible  in  his  heel.  Scientists,  mighty  in  their 
special  line,  become  like  other  men  when  they  dream. 
We  are  bold  to  examine  their  conclusions,  and  declare 
non-concurrence,  even  without  pretending  to  compar- 
able scientific  attainments,  on  the  ground  that  they 
have  abandoned  Bacon,  and  fallen  into  a  poor  imita- 
tion of  Bunyan. 

It  may  be  proper,  before  we  proceed  to  the  exam- 
ination of  their  conclusions,  and  premises  as  well — but 
especially  their  conclusions,  since  it  is  assumed  that 
they  have  quite  retired  the  Bible,  demonstrated  it 
false  and  baseless  in  its  teachings — to  ascertain  what 
its  teachings  are  on  the  points  in  dispute ;  especially 
since  we  hope  to  show  that  they  are  neither  baseless 
nor  false,  but  the  very  truth,  to  which  their  science, 
rightly  so  called,  does  reverent  homage. 

The  Scriptural  theory  is,  that,  primitively,  there 
existed  one  only  being  ;  an  Eternal  Spirit,  who,  by  the 
sole  force  of  his  will,  in  a  manner  ineffable  and  incon- 
ceivable to  us,  created  the  very  essence  of  all  other 
being ;  imparting  to  the  essence  so  made  all  included 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  43 

forces  and  tendencies,  insomuch  that  they  are  pre- 
cisely what  and  as  they  are,  in  these  respects,  because 
he  so  determined  ;  and  so  that  there  is  nothing  that 
he  did  not  create  and  make.  The  product  is  not  a 
part  of  himself,  but  a  product  of  his  power,  which,  as 
it  was  originated,  may  at  any  time  be  retired  without 
affecting  his  being.  It  includes  two  distinct  and  easily 
differentiated  substances,  with  discrete  and  conspicu- 
ously separate  and  separable  classes  of  attributes. 
These  are  entities,  and  not  merely  mystical  or  ideal 
things.  The  creation  is  of  solid  and  real  being,  but 
which  has  no  other  root  except  the  infinite  will  which 
caused  and  continues  it. 

These  substances  are  forever  subject  to  his  con- 
trol, and  under  his  government,  but  not  in  the  same 
manner ;  the  one  existing  and  acting  under  direct  and 
necessary  impulses  from  him — mere  slaves ;  the  other 
invested  with  a  power  of  spontaneous  and  perfectly 
free  action,  but  held  to  limitation  and  responsibility 
by  him. 

Out  of  the  created  material  substance,  he  fash- 
ioned the  material  cosmos,  subordinating  the  included 
forces  to  that  end,  and  making  them  the  perpetual 
slaves  of  his  purpose,  so  that,  whatever  they  seem  to 
do  of  themselves,  they  are  really  but  modes  of  the 
manifestations  of  his  power,  visible  expressions  of  his 
invisible  will. 

The  time  when  this  most  primitive  creative  act 
transpired  is  called  "  the  beginning ;"  but  how  remote 
it  was  from  the  present,  as  we  count  time,  by  the 
revolutions  of  the  earth  in  its  orbit,  or  the  infinitely 
grander  solar  and    sidereal   cycles,  is   not  anywhere 


44  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

intimated.  There  are  Biblical  as  well  as  scientific 
reasons  for  placing  it  at  an  almost  infinite  distance  in 
the  remote  past. 

There  is  equal  silence  on  the  method  of  the  Divine 
procedure.  Whether  the  creative  fiat  struck  the 
spheres,  "full-orbed  in  all  their  round  of  rays  com- 
plete," into  being  in  one  instant  of  time,  and  sent 
them  on  their  magnificent  circuits  through  the  fields 
of  space,  as  is  the  poet's  brilliant  dream,  or  rolled 
them  up  into  solid  resplendent  balls,  from  a  fire-mist 
of  infinitesimal  monads,  disseminated  over  immensi- 
ties of  space,  through  eras  of  almost  infinite  length, 
as  is  the  probable  discovery  of  science — if  true,  the 
most  sublime  of  its  achievements — the  record  says 
not  a  syllable.  What  it  declares,  in  words  as  concise 
as  the  event  is  majestic,  is  :  "  In  the  beginning,  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  With  this  state- 
ment it  was  content,  and  left  it  for  the  inquisitive 
wonder  of  adoring  or  irreverent  men  to  search  out 
the  mystery  of  his  ways,  and  develop  the  method  of 
his  power. 

The  order  is  not  omitted.  The  declaration  is  ex- 
press that  in  process  of  time,  by  a  subsequent  creative 
fiat,  he  who  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  created 
life  upon  the  earth  ;  each  of  the  kinds,  vegetable  and 
animal,  in  the  order  named,  and  their  included  kinds 
in  an  order  of  eminence  specifically  mentioned.  But 
here  again,  as  before,  the  precise  method  is  left  in 
obscurity,  while  the  fact  and  order  are  incisively 
enunciated.  Whether  the  differentiated  species  were 
discretely  evolved  by  the  creative  fiat,  in  their  several 
and  perfect  forms,  at   once,  or  simply  germs  of  life 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  45 

were  created,  from  which,  starting  at  unity,  all  diver- 
sities of  form  have  arisen  by  slow  and  tedious  develop- 
ment, through  almost  infinite  ages  of  time,  as  is  the 
fascinating  dream  of  Darwin,  is  nowhere  stated.  It  is 
asserted  by  M'Cosh,  and  other  not  less  eminent  de- 
fenders of  the  Bible,  that  if  science  should  establish 
the  theory  of  evolution,  it  would  not  in  the  least  con- 
flict with  the  inspired  text.  Some  even  suppose  that 
the  text  strongly  hints  the  idea.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  the  language  employed  is  very  remarkable. 

"And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  grass, 
the  herb  yielding  seed,  and  the  fruit-tree  yielding  fruit 
after  his  kind,  whose  seed  is  in  itself,  upon  the  earth  : 
and  it  was  so.  And  the  earth  brought  forth  grass, 
and  herb  yielding  seed  after  his  kind,  and  the  tree 
yielding  fruit,  whose  seed  was  in  itself,  after  his  kind." 
(Gen.  i,  II,  12.)  "And  God  said,  Let  the  waters 
bring  forth  abundantly  the  moving  creature  that  hath 
life,  and  fowl  that  may  fly  above  the  earth  in  the  open 
firmament  of  heaven.  And  God  created  great  whales, 
and  every  living  creature  that  moveth,  which  the 
waters  brought  forth  abundantly,  after  their  kind,  and 
every  winged  fowl  after  his  kind :  and  God  saw  that  it 
was  good.  And  God  blessed  them,  saying,  Be  fruit- 
ful, and  multiply,  and  fill  the  waters  in  the  seas,  and 
let  fowl  multiply  in  the  earth."  (Gen.  i,  20,  21,  22.) 
"  And  God  said,  Let  the  earth  bring  forth  the  living 
creature  after  his  kind,  cattle,  and  creeping  thing,  and 
beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind  :  and  it  was  so.  And 
God  made  the  beast  of  the  earth  after  his  kind,  and 
cattle  after  their  kind,  and  every  thing  that  creepeth 
upon  the  earth  after  his  kind :  and  God  saw-  that  it 


46  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

was  good."  (Gen.  i,  24,  25.)  This  is  the  entire  of 
what  is  said  on  the  subject  of  the  introduction  of  life 
upon  the  earth,  except  the  particular  account  of  the 
creation  of  man.  Any  after-references  to  the  subject 
are  such  as  simply  allude  to,  or  reiterate,  the  fact  that 
God  is  the  absolute  creatt £r  of  life  in  its  various  forms. 
Now,  it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that,  in  this  account,  the 
two  things  distinctly  stated  are,  that  God  commanded 
life  into  being  in  a  certain  order  of  time,  and  in  all 
the  varieties  of  kind  in  which  it  is  found  to  exist ; 
indicating,  also,  the  law  of  its  propagation ;  but  no 
statement  is  made  as  to  how  he  fashioned  the  diverse 
organisms — whether  he  made  each  organism  by  a 
several  creative  act,  or  evolved  them  all,  in  their  di- 
verse kinds,  from  a  primitive  seed  of  life,  which  he 
made  to  contain  them.  The  sum  of  the  statement  is, 
that  he  commanded  the  unliving  elements  of  the 
earth  and  the  sea  to  bring  forth  the  diverse  kinds, 
and  his  command  was  a  creative  fiat.  The  diverse 
kinds  were  contained  in  the  fiat ;  but  how,  is  not  said. 
That  each  several  species  was  the  product  of  a 
discrete  creative  act,  we  do  not  find  reason  to  doubt ; 
but  the  text  is  not  shut  up  absolutely  to  this  hypothe- 
sis. "  Suppose  it  proved,"  says  Doctor  M'Cosh,  "  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  spontaneous  generation ; 
would  religion  thereby  be  overthrown,  either  in  its 
evidences,  its  doctrines,  or  its  precepts  ?  I  have 
doubts  if  it  would.  The  great  body  of  thinkers  in 
ancient  times — even  those  most  inclined  to  theism — 
seem  to  have  believed  that  lower  creatures  sprang 
out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  without  the  need  of  a 
previous  germ.     Some  of  the  profoundest  theologians 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  47 

and  ablest  defenders  of  religion  in  the  early  Church, 
were  believers  in  the  doctrine  of  spontaneous  genera- 
tion ;  which  may  be  consistently  held  in  modern  times 
by  believers  in  natural  and  revealed  religion."  "  Plants 
and  animals,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "are  now  formed 
out  of  germs ;  or,  if  you  can  show  it  to  be  so,  out  of 
wisely  endowed  and  carefully  prepared  matter.  But 
how  are  they  propagated  ?  is  the  next  question.  By 
special  acts  of  creation,  or  by  development  ?  I  do  not 
know  that  religion,  natural  or  revealed,  has  any  in- 
terest in  holding  by  any  particular  view  on  the  sub- 
ject, any  more  than  it  has  in  maintaining  any  special 
theory  as  to  the  formation  of  strata  of  stone  in  the 
earth's  surface.  It  is  now  admitted  that  Christians 
may  hold,  in  perfect  consistency  with  religion  and 
Genesis,  that  certain  layers  of  rocks  were  formed,  not 
at  once  by  a  fiat  of  God,  but  mediately  by  water  and 
fire,  as  the  agents  of  God.  And  are  they  not  at 
liberty  to  hold  always,  if  evidence  be  produced,  that 
higher  plants  have  been  developed  from  lower,  and 
higher  brutes  from  lower,  according  to  certain  laws  of 
descent,  known  or  unknown,  working  in  favorable 
circumstances  ?  There  is  nothing  irreligious  in  the 
idea  of  development,  properly  understood.*  It  would 
not  appall  our  faith,  if  it  should  be  discovered  that  all 
the  forms  of  life  below  man  could  be  traced  to  a  spon- 
taneous generation  from  the  unliving  monads,  and 
that  from  unity  they  were  developed  into  diversity; 
given,  that  the  spontaneous  movement,  from  its  in- 
ception to  its  ultimatum,  emanated  from,  and  was 
guided  by,  the  Divine  factor.  We  should  still  hold 
"  Christianity  and  Positivism,"  pp.  36-8. 


48  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

that  the  Bible  story  was  the  true  and  authentic  ac- 
count of  creation,  uncontradicted  in  a  single  syllable : 
more,  we  should  find  in  the  fact,  if  possible,  additional 
support  to  our  faith,  because  of  the  peculiar  structure 
of  the  statement  contained  in  the  inspired  text.  We 
feel  not  the  slightest  alarm  at  the  furor  which  has 
been  awakened  on  the  subject,  and  do  not  enter  the 
arena  to  defend  a  faith,  which  has  been  put  in  peril 
by  scientific  discoveries,  but  only  to  aid  in  fixing  the 
true  status  of  the  question,  as  between  science  and 
the  Bible. 

We  advance  with  entire  composure  to  the  exam- 
ination of  the  supposed  scientific  discoveries  of  "the 
origin  of  life,"  and  the  development  of  the  organic 
forms  in  which  it  manifests  itself  "  upon  earth." 

The  origin  of  life  is  a  subject  which  has  interested 
the  wisest  and  most  thoughtful  men,  from  the  earliest 
ages.  There  have  always  been  two,  perhaps  three, 
schools  of  thinkers  in  relation  to  it ;  materialists,  who 
have  accounted  for  it  as  either  inherent  in,  or  the 
product  of,  matter,  by  evolution ;  theists,  who  have 
believed  it  to  be  the  immediate  product  of  the  gods ; 
with,  perhaps,  an  intermediate  school,  of  pantheists, 
who  blended  the  two.  The  doctrines  which  are  just 
now  awakening  so  wide  attention,  almost  panic,  are 
not  new  ;  in  one  phase  or  another,  they  date  back  to 
Anaximander,  or  the  elder  atomists.  Several  times 
they  have  invaded  and  disturbed  Christian  thought. 
Lamarck  propounded  them  with  great  confidence,  in 
the  last  century ;  and  less  than  thirty  years  ago, 
within  the  memory  of  the  present  generation,  they 
were   reproduced   with   marvelous   brilliancy,   by   an 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  49 

anonymous  author,  under  the  style  of  "The  Vestiges 
of  Creation  ;"  a  work  not  less  widely  read  at  the  time, 
and  producing  a  scarcely  less  profound  agitation,  than 
the  books  of  Darwin,  Huxley,  Spencer,  Tyndall,  and 
others,  to-day.  The  wave  passed  by,  and  left  no  rip- 
ple-marks. Professor  Huxley,  now,  with,  it  may  be, 
more  learning,  and  many  new  facts — evidence  of  the 
progress  of  the  times  in  which  we  live — renews  the 
combat  with  brilliant  promise,  and  is  greeted  with 
paeans  of  victory,  before  the  ink  is  dry  upon  his  pages. 
He  has  discovered  the  origin  of  life;  the  ages-old 
problem  has  finally  reached  a  scientific  solution.  It 
is  a  bold  venture. 

What,  then,  is  his  solution  ?  "  The  Physical  Basis 
of  Life,"  is  the  style  of  the  essay  in  which  he  develops 
fully  the  theory  which  had  been  propounded,  in  part, 
in  his  discussion  of  "  The  Origin  of  Species,"  and 
other  writings.  The  title  suggests  the  idea  of  the 
treatise.  He  seeks,  and  professes  to  have  found,  the 
basis  of  life  in  matter,  or,  as  his  thesis  requires,  a 
composition  of  matter  which  underlies  and  originates 
life.  In  the  unity  of  the  composite  substance  he 
finds  the  unity  of  all  life,  as  in  the  composition  he 
finds  the  cause  of  all  life  ;  one  invariable  cause  of  one 
identical  effect,  manifesting  itself  in  a  variety  of  forms. 
He  gives  to  the  substance  the  name  "protoplasm," 
or  "  matter  of  life."  It  is  important  to  be  remem- 
bered, especially  as  we  shall  not  always  find  him  con- 
sistent with  himself,  that  the  conditions  of  the  problem 
are,  not  that  he  find  the  plasm,  or  matrix,  in  which 
life  is  cast,  but  that  he  find  the  origin  of  that  which 
takes  form   in  the  mold.     He  advances  not  a  step 


50  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

toward  the  origin  of  life,  by  discovering  the  compo- 
nents of  the  matter  in  which  it  invariably  makes  its 
home,  if  it  were  possible  to  do  that.  It  is  requisite 
that  he  should  show,  further,  that  the  plasm,  by  virtue 
of  its  composition,  is  living,  or  that  it  becomes  life  ; 
the  protoplasm  must  be  not  simply  the  home  of  life, 
but  it  must  originate,  or  in  substance  be,  the  occu- 
pant of  the  home  ;  or  the  question  remains,  Whence 
the  occupant  ?  Precisely  what  Professor  Huxley  pro- 
fesses to  do  is,  to  identify  life  and  protoplasm  ;  to 
demonstrate  that  life  is  not  something  added  to  pro- 
toplasm, but  is  a  component  part. 

This  appears  in  many  paragraphs  of  his  writings, 
but  in  none  more  explicitly  than  the  following : 

"  It  will  be  observed  that  the  existence  of  the 
matter  of  life  depends  on  the  pre-existence  of  certain 
compounds  ;  namely,  carbonic  acid,  water,  and  ammo- 
nia. Withdraw  any  one  of  these  three  from  the  world, 
and  all  vital  phenomena  come  to  an  end.  They  are 
related  to  the  protoplasm  of  the  plant,  as  the  proto- 
plasm of  the  plant  is  to  that  of  the  animal.  Carbon, 
hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  nitrogen  are  all  lifeless  bodies. 
Of  these,  carbon  and  oxygen  unite,  in  certain  propor- 
tions and  under  certain  conditions,  to  give  rise  to  car- 
bonic acid ;  hydrogen  and  oxygen  produce  water ; 
nitrogen  and  hydrogen  give  rise  to  ammonia.  These 
new  compounds,  like  the  elementary  bodies  of  which 
they  are  composed,  are  lifeless.  But  when  they  are 
brought  together,  under  certain  conditions,  they  give 
rise  to  the  still  more  complex  body,  protoplasm,  and 
this  protoplasm  exhibits  the  phenomena  of  life." 

This  sentence  is  pregnant  of  significance.     It  is 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  5  I 

true,  that  when  he  declares  that  protoplasm  exhibits 
the  phenomena  of  life,  he  introduces  the  qualifying 
phrase,  "  under  certain  conditions ;"  which  might  re- 
lieve him  of  the  imputation  of  identifying  protoplasm 
with  life,  or  life  with  the  matter  of  protoplasm  ;  but 
what  follows  commits  him  inextricably.     Says  he : 

"  I  see  no  break  in  this  series  of  steps  in  molecular 
complication,  and  I  am  unable  to  understand  why  the 
language  which  is  applicable  to  any  one  term  of  the 
series  may  not  be  used  to  any  of  the  others.  We 
think  fit  to  call  different  kinds  of  matter  carbon,  oxy- 
gen, hydrogen,  and  nitrogen,  and  to  speak  of  the 
various  powers  and  activities  of  these  substances  as 
the  properties  of  the  matter  of  which  they  are  com- 
posed. When  hydrogen  and  oxygen  are  mixed,  in  a 
certain  proportion,  and  the  electric  spark  is  passed 
through  them,  they  disappear,  and  a  quantity  of  water, 
equal  in  weight  to  the  sum  of  their  weights,  appears 
in  their  place.  There  is  not  the  slightest  parity  be- 
tween the  passive  and  active  powers  of  the  water  and 
those  of  the  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  which  have  given 
rise  to  it.  At  320  Fahrenheit,  and  far  below  that  tem- 
perature, oxygen  and  hydrogen  are  elastic,  gaseous 
bodies,  whose  particles  tend  to  rush  away  from  one 
another  with  great  force.  Water,  at  the  same  tem- 
perature, is  a  strong,  though  brittle  solid,  whose  par- 
ticles tend  to  cohere  into  definite  geometrical  shapes, 
and  sometimes  build  up  frosty  imitations  of  the  most 
complex  forms  of  vegetable  foliage." 

Attend  closely  to  the  following  sentence : 
"Nevertheless,    we    call    these,  and    many   other 
strange  phenomena,  the  properties  of  water ;  and  we 


52  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

do  not  hesitate  to  believe  that,  in  some  way  or  an- 
other, they  result  from  the  properties  of  the  compo- 
nent elements  of  the  water." 

Nothing  can  be  more  obvious  than  that  he  means 
to  be  understood  as  holding,  that,  even  as  the  com- 
pound body,  water,  has  nothing  in  it  apart  from  the 
oxygen  and  hydrogen  components  ;  that,  as  the  com- 
bination of  these  two  gives  rise  to  all  the  peculiar 
qualities  of  the  resultant,  without  the  addition  of  any- 
thing else ;  so  the  compound  substance,  resultant 
from  the  union  of  unliving  water,  ammonia,  and  car- 
bonic acid,  derives  all  its  qualities,  life  included,  from 
the  combination ;  the  life  is  not  something  apart  from 
the  component  elements,  but  is  of  them,  and  but  waits 
for  the  union  for  its  manifestation.  That  that  is  pre- 
cisely his  meaning,  the  thesis,  to  account  for  the  origin 
of  life,  requires,  and  his  further  statement  still  more 
expressly  declares : 

"We  do  not  assume  that  a  something  called 
'aquosity,'  entered  into,  and  took  possession  of,  the 
oxide  of  hydrogen  as  soon  as  it  was  formed,  and  then 
guided  the  aqueous  particles  to  their  places  in  the 
facets  of  the  crystal,  or  among  the  leaflets  of  the  hoar- 
frost. On  the  contrary,  we  live  in  the  hope  and  in 
the  faith  that,  by  the  advance  of  molecular  physics, 
we  shall,  by  and  by,  be  able  to  see  our  way  as  clearly 
from  the  constituents  of  water  to  the  properties  of 
water,  as  we  are  now  able  to  deduce  the  operations  of 
a  watch  from  the  form  of  its  parts  and  the  manner 
in  which  they  are  put  together." 

Note  the  words  following : 

"  Is  the  case  in  any  way  changed  when  carbonic 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  53 

acid,  water,  and  ammonia  disappear,  and  in  their 
place,  under  the  influence  of  pre-existing  living  pro- 
toplasm, an  equivalent  weight  of  the  matter  of  life 
makes  its  appearance  ? 

"  It  is  true  that  there  is  no  sort  of  parity  between 
the  properties  of  the  components  and  the  properties 
of  the  resultant,  but  neither  was  there  in  the  case  of 
the  water.  It  is  also  true  that  what  I  have  spoken  of 
as  the  influence  of  pre-existing  living  matter,  is  some- 
thing quite  unintelligible ;  but  does  any  body  quite 
comprehend  the  modus  operandi  of  an  electric  spark, 
which  traverses  a  mixture  of  oxygen  and  hydrogen  ?" 

Nothing  could  be  more  obvious  than  all  this,  and 
especially  in  connection  with  the  question  which  is 
immediately  added  : 

"What  justification  is  there,  then,  for  the  assump- 
tion of  the  existence  in  the  living  matter  of  a  some- 
thing which  has  no  representative,  or  correlative,  in  the 
not-living  matter  which  gave  rise  to  it  ?  What  better 
philosophical  status  has  '  vitality '  than  '  aquosity  ?'  .  . 

"  If  scientific  language  is  to  possess  a  definite  and 
constant  signification  whenever  it  is  employed,  it  seems 
to  me  that  we  are  logically  bound  to  apply. to  the 
protoplasm,  or  physical  basis  of  life,  the  same  con- 
ceptions as  those  which  are  held  to  be  legitimate 
elsewhere.  If  the  phenomena  exhibited  by  water  are 
its  properties,  so  are  those  presented  by  protoplasm, 
living  or  dead,  its  properties. 

"  If  the  properties  of  water  may  be  properly  said  to 
result  from  the  nature  and  disposition  of  its  compo- 
nent molecules,  I  can  find  no  intelligible  ground  for 
refusing   to   say   that   the   properties   of  protoplasm 


54  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

result  from  the  nature  and  disposition  of  its  mole- 
cules. 

"  But  I  bid  you  beware  that,  in  accepting  these  con- 
clusions, you  are  placing  your  feet  on  the  first  rung  of 
a  ladder  which,  in  most  people's  estimation,  is  the  re- 
verse of  Jacob's,  and  leads  to  the  antipodes  of  heaven. 
It  may  seem  a  small  thing  to  admit  that  the  dull,  vital 
actions  of  a  fungus,  or  a  foraminifer,  are  the  proper- 
ties of  their  protoplasm,  and  are  the  direct  results  of 
the  nature  of  the  matter  of  which  they  are  composed." 

Here  we  are  told,  in  direct  terms,  that  the  vital 
action  is  a  property  of  protoplasmic  matter.  And 
now  follows  the  most  remarkable  and  the  most 
important  sentence  in  the  treatise: 

"But  if,  as  I  have  endeavored  to  prove  to  you, 
their  protoplasm  is  essentially  identical  with,  and 
most  readily  converted  into,  that  of  any  animal,  I 
can  discover  no  logical  halting-place  between  the 
admission  that  such  is  the  case,  and  the  further  con- 
cession that  all  vital  action  may,  with  equal  propriety, 
be  said  to  be  the  result  of  the  molecular  forces  of 
the  protoplasm  which  displays  it.  And,  if  so,  it 
must  be  true,  in  the  same  sense  and  to  the  same 
extent,  that  the  thoughts  to  which  I  am  now  giving 
utterance,  and  your  thoughts  regarding  them,  are  the 
expression  of  molecular  changes  in  that  matter  of  life 
which  is  the  source  of  our  other  vital  phenomena."* 

This  language,  if  terms  have  any  meaning,  con- 
victs its  author  of  teaching  that  all  vital  phenomena, 
mental  as  well  as  physical,  sensation  as  well  as  respir- 

*"The  Physical  Basis   of  Life:"  in  "Lay  Sermons"— pp.   135- 
138 — Appleton's  edition. 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  55 

ation,  thought  as  well  as  digestion — all  vital  phe- 
nomena, from  the  contraction  of  a  nerve  to  the 
highest  flight  of  imagination  or  profoundest  intui- 
tion of  reason — are  but  the  result  of  the  molecular 
forces  of  protoplasm  which  displays  them. 

Tyndall,  a  name  not  less  potent  than  either  of 
the  two  distinguished  masters  already  quoted,  is,  if 
possible,  more  bold.  "  Supposing,  then,"  he  says, 
"  the  molecules  of  the  human  body,  instead  of  replac- 
ing others,  and  thus  renewing  a  pre-existing  form,  to 
be  gathered  first-hand  from  nature,  and  put  together 
in  the  same  relative  position  which  they  occupy  in 
the  body;  that  they  have  the  self-same  forces  and 
distribution  of  forces,  the  self-same  motions  and 
distribution  of  motions, — would  this  organized  con- 
course of  molecules  stand  before  us  as  a  sentient, 
thinking  being?  There  seems  no  valid  reason  to 
believe  that  it  would  not.  Or,  supposing  a  planet 
came  from  the  sun,  and  set  spinning  round  its  axis, 
and  revolving  round  the  sun  at  a  distance  from  him 
equal  to  that  of  our  earth,  would  one  of  the  conse- 
quences of  its  refrigeration  be  the  development  of 
organic  forms  ?  I  lean  to  the  affirmative.  Struc- 
tural forces  are  certainly  in  the  mass,  whether  or  not 
these  forces  reach  to  the  extent  of  forming  a  plant  or 
an  animal.  In  an  amorphous  drop  of  water  lie  latent 
all  the  marvels  of  crystalline  force ;  and  who  will 
set  limits  to  the  possible  play  of  molecules  in  a  cool- 
ing planet  ?  If  these  statements  startle,  it  is  be- 
cause matter  has  been  defined  and  maligned  by  phi- 
losophers and  theologians,  who  were  equally  unaware 


56  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

that  it  is,  at  the  bottom,  essentially  mystical  and 
transcendental."* 

Stebbing,  one  of  the  admiring  adherents  of  the 
school,  thus  states  his  interpretation   of  the  theory : 

"  The  problem  upon  which  many  thoughts  and 
speculations  of  science  are  for  the  moment  converg- 
ing, is  the  origin  of  life.  There  are  some  who  be- 
lieve that,  under  certain  chemical  conditions,  living 
creatures  are  continually  coming  into  existence,  ungen- 
erated  by  any  living  parent ;  born,  as  it  were,  without 
birth  ;  acquiring  an  animated  existence,  with  powers 
of  motion,  feeding,  and  reproduction,  from  substances 
previously  wanting  in  one  or  all  of  the  capacities, — 
such  creatures,  in  short,  as,  if  asked  for  their  parent- 
age, would  but  answer  each  for  itself,  My  father  was 
an  atom,  and  my  mother  a  molecule.  It  should  be 
remembered  that  the  little  animals,  supposed  to  arise 
in  the  manner  described,  first  become  visible,  if  at 
all,  as  the  tiniest  objects  that  the  microscope  can  de- 
tect. But  whether  there  is  or  is  not,  in  these  days,  a 
continual  coming  into  existence  of  these  infinitesimal 
pigmies,  they  are  just  such  productions  as  the  theory 
of  development  would  suppose  to  have  arisen  origin- 
ally, constituting  the  first  outburst  of  life  upon  the 
globe,  ancestral  to  the  noblest  forms  of  animated 
nature  now  extant,  progenitors  in  an  unbroken  line 
of  man  himself."! 

We  have  quoted  thus  extensively  in  our  desire  to 
do  perfect  justice  by  the  eminent  names  whose  opin- 
ions we  combat,  and  that  our  readers  may  know  the 

'*"  Fragments  of  Science;"  article,  "Vitality,"  page  441. 
t "  Essay  on  Darwinism,"  page  94. 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  57 

grounds  upon  which  we  interpret  their  theories ;  and 
especially  because  we  shall  soon  find  them  taking 
back  their  own  postulates  and  repudiating  their  own 
conclusions. 

For  a  moment,  before  we  advance  to  the  rebuttal, 
we  desire  to  present,  free  from  all  gloss,  and  nakedly, 
what  we  have  found  to  be  their  teaching. 

The  basis  of  life  is  protoplasm.  All  the  phe- 
nomena of  life  are  resultant  of  protoplasm.  All 
thoughts  and  feelings,  as  well  as  motions — all  forms 
of  activity,  moral  and  mental,  as  well  as  physical — are 
properties  of  protoplasm ;  that  is,  of  carbonic  acid, 
ammonia,  and  water,  chemically  combined.  Carbonic 
acid,  water,  and  ammonia,  apart,  are  lifeless  bodies, 
subject  to  the  common  law  of  gravitation.  Lying 
inert  and  dead  in  the  common  mass  of  matter,  they 
enter  into  a  copartnership,  and  go  walking  and  flying, 
exhibiting  all  the  phenomena  of  life.  They  were, 
when  separate,  involuntary  and  impassive  and  unin- 
telligent ;  united,  they  think  and  will  and  feel.  One 
parcel  of  carbonic  acid,  water,  and  ammonia,  is  cun- 
ning, shy,  deceptive ;  another,  dull,  stupid,  idiotic. 
One  parcel,  timid,  hesitating,  cowardly ;  another,  bold, 
fearless,  brave.  One  parcel,  selfish,  sinister,  knavish  ; 
another,  disinterested,  magnanimous,  cosmopolitan. 
One  parcel,  the  slave  of  lust,  of  appetite,  of  passion, 
given  to  rapine,  cruelty,  and  war ;  another  yields  to 
the  sway  of  the  ideas  of  the  right,  the  beautiful,  the 
true,  and  gives  himself  to  the  arts  of  peace  and  deeds 
of  charity  and  love.  One  parcel  loves  song,  and 
becomes  a  Handel,  a  Mozart,  a  Haydn  ;  another  is 
enamored  of  poetry,  turns  into  a  Homer,  and  writes 


58  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

the  Iliad ;  into  a  Shakspeare,  and  composes  the 
immortal  tragedies  ;  into  a  Milton,  and  creates  the 
dream  of  heaven  and  hell.  And  yet  another  is  im- 
bued with  the  divine  fervor  of  eloquence,  and  pours 
Ciceronian,  Demosthenian,  Websterian  thunders  down 
along  the  ages.  Carbonic  acid,  water,  and  ammonia, 
that  is  all !  One  set  of  protoplasms  indite  laws,  phi- 
losophies, religions,  and  set  up  governments,  consti- 
tutions, and  dynasties  ;  another  set  invent  steam- 
ships, printing-presses,  electric  telegraphs  ;  and  yet 
another  hoard  of  brigand  protoplasmic  cells  let  loose 
the  dogs  of  war,  and,  rushing  with  the  frenzy  of  hate, 
fatten  the  fields  of  Marathon,  Waterloo,  Gettysburg^ 
and  Sedan,  with  their  carbonic  acid,  water,  and  am- 
monia— protoplasmic  dust ! 

Of  this  marvelous  thesis,  we  are  bold  to  say,  you 
will  search  in  vain,  not  only  through  all  the  pages  of 
these  eminent  men,  but  no  less  fruitlessly  through 
all  science,  and  over  the  entire  field  of  nature,  for  a 
particle  of  proof.  Neither  experiment  nor  observation 
has  ever  been  able  to  point  to  a  single  instance  of  the 
origin  of  life  from  the  mere  union  of  carbonic  acid, 
ammonia,  and  water.  It  is  an  assumption  without 
the  shadow  of  proof,  and  an  assumption  beset  with 
the  most  trenchant  difficulties  that  ever  confronted 
any  hypothesis. 

The  entire  of  what  is  known  of  life  is,  that  it  is  a 
force  which  never,  under  any  chemical  or  other  condi- 
tions of  matter,  comes  into  existence  or  manifestation 
in  unliving  matter,  except  as  it  is  propagated  by  living 
matter.  Dead  matter,  organic  or  inorganic,  has  not 
now,  and,  so  far  as  the  proof  extends,  never  did  have 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  59 

power,  under  any  conditions,  to  originate  it ;  or,  if  so, 
the  fact  has  never  been  made  known  to  man,  and 
rests  upon  no  other  foundation  than  unwarranted 
conjecture.  The  proof  is  positive  that  it  can  not  be 
so ;  it  is  demonstrable  that  the  hypothesis  is  false.* 
Thought  is  the  topmost  phenomenon  of  being — men- 
tality. It  as  certainly  antedates  all  cosmical  wonders, 
from  the  primitive  monad  upward,  as  it  pre-dates,  in 
the  inventor's  brain,  the  mechanism  he  creates.  "The 
physical  basis "  is  too  slender  to  support  the  super- 
structure. Protoplasm  is  a  high  compound,  set  apart 
and  divinely  designated  to  an  honorable  use;  the 
palace  of  life,  nothing  more.  The  transcendental 
king  comes  to  his  palace  and  throne,  beautifully  and 
wondrously  built  up  of  the  dead  carbon,  oxygen, 
hydrogen,  and  nitrogen,  from  afar,  and  sets  light  in 
its  windows  more  lucent  than  diamonds,  and  makes 
all  its  telegraphic  nerves  dance  and  thrill  with  ecstasies 
of  feeling  and  thought.  But  he  was  not  born  here  ; 
he  is  the  bridegroom,  coming  with  a  shining  train,  to 
his  waiting  bride  ;  his  entrance  wakes  music  and  life 
in  all  the  halls  and  along  the  corridors  of  his  beau- 
tiful home. 

We  know  nothing  of  final  cause,  we  are  told. 
Science  ignores  every  such  idea.  Cause  is  trans- 
cendental ;  we  know  only  what  we  touch  and  han- 
dle and  feel, — that  is  science.  Is  it  so  ?  I  see  a 
graded  way  across  a  continent ;  the  hills  are  leveled 
and  tunneled ;  the  rivers  and  streams  arched  with 
masonry  and   bridged  with  wood  and  iron ;   rails  of 

*  For  an  exhaustive  view  of  spontaneous  generation,  see  Mivart  and 
Figuier. 


60  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

steel  are  laid  upon  ties  of  timber ;  a  locomotive  and 
train  of  cars,  with  strong  wheels  carefully  fitted  to  the 
tram-ways,  rush,  with  almost  lightning  speed,  from 
one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other ;  there  are  switches 
and  turn-tables  and  tanks,  and  depots  for  men  and 
merchandise.  These  things  I  see  and  know  to  exist. 
Do  I  know  that  the  locomotive  was  made  to  draw  the 
train  ;  the  trams  made  for  the  wheels  ;  the  cars  for 
freight  and  passengers?  I  thought  I  did.  It  did 
seem  to  me  that  the  purpose  for  which  a  thing  was 
made  might  be  known  as  well  as  the  thing  itself; 
that  mind  and  thought  were  as  really  revealed,  as  the 
thing  which  they  produced  for  a  definite  purpose  ; 
that  even  as  I  know  there  are  eyes,  I  know  they  were 
for  seeing  ;  that  the  final  cause,  in  innumerable  cases, 
is  as  obvious  to  reason  as  matter  bodying  it  is  to 
sense.  This,  we  are  certain,  is  the  common  sense  of 
mankind,  which  they  will  be  slow  to  renounce  at  the 
bidding  of  pompous  names.  There  is  nothing  better 
known  to  our  experience  and  consciousness  both,  than 
that  final  cause,  which  is  henceforth  to  be  expunged 
from  our  knowledges,  in  the  dream  of  the  blatant 
experimentalists  and  positivists  of  modern  notoriety. 
Will  it  surprise  you  when  I  say  that,  after  all, 
Professor  Huxley  himself  acknowledges  that  he  has 
failed  ;  and,  in  concluding  his  elaborate  researches, 
admits  that  the  life  which  he  sought  in,  and  declared 
to  be  of,  matter,  has  a  metaphysical  source  ?  He  shall 
confess  for  himself: 

"  In  seeking  for  the  origin  of  protoplasm,  we  must 
eventually  turn  to  the  vegetable  world.  The  fluid 
containing  carbonic  acid,  water,  and  ammonia,  which 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE,  6 1 

offers  such  a  Barmecide  feast  to  the  animal,  is  a  table 
richly  spread  to  multitudes  of  plants  ;  and,  with  a  due 
supply  of  only  such  materials,  many  a  plant  will  not 
only  maintain  itself  in  vigor,  but  grow  and  multiply 
until  it  has  increased  a  million-fold,  or  a  million  mil- 
lion-fold, the  quantity  of  protoplasm  which  it  origin- 
ally possessed  ;  in  this  way  building  up  the  matter  of 
life,  to  an  indefinite  extent,  from  the  common  matter 
of  the  universe.  Thus,  the  animal  can  only  raise  the 
complex  substance  of  dead  protoplasm  to  the  higher 
power,  as  one  may  say,  of  living  protoplasm ;  while 
the  plant  can  raise  the  less  complex  substances — car- 
bonic acid,  water,  and  ammonia — to  the  same  stage 
of  living  protoplasm,  if  not  to  the  same  level."* 

The  plant,  then,  a  living  being,  is  factor  of  proto- 
plasm ;  so  protoplasm,  in  place  of  originating  life,  is 
elaborated  only  by  life.  To  the  same  effect  are  these 
words,  taken  from  another  work  by  the  same  writer: 

"The  horse  makes  up  its  wastes  by  feeding;  and 
its  food  is  grass  or  oats,  or  perhaps  other  vegetable 
products.  Therefore,  in  the  long  run,  the  source  of 
all  this  complex  machinery  lies  in  the  vegetable  king- 
dom. But  where  does  the  grass  or  oats,  or  any  other 
plant,  obtain  this  nourishing,  food-producing  material  ? 
At  first  it  is  a  little  seed,  which  soon  begins  to  draw 
into  itself,  from  the  earth  and  the  surrounding  air, 
matters  which,  in  themselves,  contain  no  vital  proper- 
ties whatever;  it  absorbs  into  its  own  substance, 
water,  an  inorganic  body  ;  it  draws  into  its  substance, 

*"The  Physical  Basis  of  Life,"  "Lay  Sermons,"  p.  134,  Appleton's 
edition. 


62  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

carbonic  acid,  an  inorganic  matter;  and  ammonia, 
another  inorganic  matter,  found  in  the  air ;  and  then, 
by  some  wonderful  chemical  process,  the  details  of 
which  the  chemists  do  not  yet  understand,  though 
they  are  near  foreshadowing  them,  it  (the  living  seed) 
combines  them  into  one  substance  which  is  known 
as  '  proteine,'  a  complex  compound  of  carbon,  hydro- 
gen, oxygen,  and  nitrogen,  which  alone  possesses  the 
property  of  manifesting  vitality,  and  permanently  sup- 
porting animal  life.  So  that  you  see  that  the  waste 
products  of  the  animal  economy,  the  effete  materials, 
which  are  continually  being  thrown  off  by  all  living 
beings,  in  the  form  of  inorganic  matters,  are  constantly 
replaced  by  supplies  of  the  necessary  repairing  and 
rebuilding  materials  drawn  from  the  plants  ;  which,  in 
their  turn,  manufacture  them,  so  to  speak,  by  a  mys- 
terious combination  of  those  same  inorganic  materials. 
Thus  we  come  to  the  conclusion,  strange  at  first  sight, 
that  the  matter  constituting  the  living  world  is  iden- 
tical with  that  which  forms  the  inorganic  world."* 

"  Notwithstanding  all  the  fundamental  resemblances 
which  exist  between  the  powers  of  the  protoplasm  in 
plants  and  in  animals,  they  present  a  striking  differ- 
ence in  the  fact  that  plants  can  manufacture  fresh 
protoplasm  out  of  mineral  compounds ;  whereas  ani- 
mals are  obliged  to  procure  it  ready  made,  and  hence, 
in  the  long-run,  depend  upon  plants.  Upon  what 
condition  this  difference  in  the  power  of  the  two  great 
divisions  of  the  world  of  life  depends,  nothing  is  at 
present  known."f 

*  Huxley:  "Origin  of  Species,"  pp.  15-17. 

f  "  The  Physical  Basis  of  Life  :"  "Lay  Sermons,"  p.  126. 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  63 

Finally,  he  says  of  these  teachings  of  his : 

"I  should  not  wonder  if  'gross  and  brutal  mate- 
rialism '  were  the  mildest  phrase  applied  to  them  in 
certain  quarters.  And,  most  undoubtedly,  the  terms 
of  the  propositions  are  distinctly  materialistic.  Nev- 
ertheless^ two  things  are  certain:  the  one,  that  I  hold 
the  statements  to  be  substantially  true ;  the  other, 
that  I,  individually,  am  no  materialist,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  believe  materialism  to  involve  grave  philo- 
sophical error. 

"  This  union  of  materialistic  terminology  with  the 
repudiation  of  materialistic  philosophy,  I  share  with 
some  of  the  most  thoughtful  men  with  whom  I  am 
acquainted.  And,  when  I  first  undertook  to  deliver 
the  present  discourse,  it  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  fitting 
opportunity  to  explain  how  such  a  union  is  not  only 
consistent  with,  but  necessitated  by,  sound  logic.  I 
purposed  to  lead  you  through  the  territory  of  vital 
phenomena  to  the  materialistic  slough  in  which  you 
find  yourselves  now  plunged,  and  then  to  point  out  to 
you  the  sole  path  by  which,  in  my  judgment,  extrica- 
tion is  possible."* 

This  is  very  remarkable  language,  as  disclosing 
the  fact  that,  after  all,  Huxley  does  not  believe  that 
he  accounts  for  life  without  a  metaphysical  cause.  He 
employs  materialistic  language,  but  only  for  conven- 
ience of  terminology,  while  he  has  a  reserved  meta- 
physical sense;  he  plunges  us  into  the  slough  of 
materialism  by  its  use,  but  tells  us  in  the  end,  it  is 
only  a  trick  of  logic,  in  which  he,  personally,  has  no 
faith  at  all ;  indeed,  knows  to  be  misleading  and  false, 

*"  Physical  Basis  of  Life  :"  "Lay  Sermons,"  p.  139. 


64  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

but  from  which  the  only  escape  is  to  continue  to  em- 
ploy the  misleading  terms. 

"  If  we  find  that  the  ascertainment  of  the  order  of 
nature  is  facilitated  by  using  one  terminology,  or  one 
set  of  symbols,  rather  than  another,  it  is  our  clear  duty 
to  use  the  former ;  and  no  harm  can  accrue,  so  long 
as  we  bear  in  mind  that  we  are  dealing  merely  with 
terms  and  symbols.  In  itself,  it  is  of  little  moment 
whether  we  express  the  phenomena  of  matter  in  terms 
of  spirit,  or  the  phenomena  of  spirit  in  terms  of  mat- 
ter ;  matter  may  be  regarded  as  a  form  of  thought, 
thought  may  be  regarded  as  a  property  of  matter, — 
each  statement  has  a  certain  relative  truth.  But  with 
a  view  to  the  progress  of  science,  the  materialistic 
terminology  is  in  every  way  to  be  preferred  ;  for  it 
connects  thought  with  the  other  phenomena  of  the 
universe,  and  suggests  inquiry  into  the  nature  of  those 
physical  conditions,  or  concomitants  of  thought,  which 
are  more  or  less  accessible  to  us,  and  a  knowledge  of 
which  may,  in  future,  help  us  to  exercise  the  same 
kind  of  control  over  the  world  of  thought  as  we 
already  possess  in  respect  of  the  material  world ; 
whereas,  the  alternative,  or  spiritualistic,  terminology 
is  utterly  barren,  and  leads  to  nothing  but  obscurity 
and  confusion  of  ideas. 

"Thus,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  further 
science  advances,  the  more  extensively  and  consist- 
ently will  all  the  phenomena  of  nature  be  represented 
by  materialistic  formulae  and  symbols. 

"But  the  man  of  science,  who,  forgetting  the  limits 
of  philosophical  inquiry,  slides  from  these  formulae 
and  symbols  into  what  is  commonly  understood   by 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  6$ 

materialism,  seems  to  me  to  place  himself  on  a  level 
with  the  mathematician  who  should  mistake  the  xs 
and  ys,  with  which  he  works  his  problems,  for  real 
entities — and  with  this  further  disadvantage,  as  com- 
pared with  the  mathematician,  that  the  blunders  of 
the  latter  are  of  no  practical  consequence,  while  the 
errors  of  systematic  materialism  may  paralyze  the 
energies  and  destroy  the  beauty  of  a  life."* 

The  question  comes  back  with  all  its  original  diffi- 
culty, therefore,  as  is  here  confessed :  Whence  did  the 
vegetable  world  get  its  original  protoplasm,  the  matter 
of  life  in  which  it  started  as  a  factor  of  protoplasm  ? 
As  living,  it  is  able  to  extract  the  nutriment  of  its  life, 
by  a  chemistry  peculiar  to  itself,  from  inorganic  sub- 
stances, to  make  its  protoplasm  ;  but  this  is  no  account 
of  its  origin,  but  only  of  the  mode  of  its  sustentation. 
It  in  turn  becomes  transmuted  into  the  tissues  of  the 
living  animal ;  but  the  fact  that  it  becomes  nutriment 
to  the  animal  life,  does  not  account  for  the  origin  of 
that  which  it  nourishes.  The  substance  of  all  which 
is,  that  there  is  matter  without  life  and  matter  with 
life,  the  only  differentiation  being  life  ;  the  one  dead 
protoplasm,  the  other  living  protoplasm.  Whence  the 
life  is,  remains  unexplained  by  science,  and  has  no 
solution  except  that,  like  matter  in  which  it  dwells,  it 
was  created — not  evolved  from  unliving  forces. 

If,  then,  all  should  be  granted  that  is  claimed  as 
known  by  these  savans,  what  disquietude  ought  it 
give  to  our  faith?  None  at  all.  What  warrant  does 
it  give  for  their  boast  that  life  is  a  phenomenon, 
evolved  from  the  forces  of  unliving  matter?     None  at 

*  "  Physical  Basis  of  Life :"  "  Lay  Sermons,"  pp.  145,  6. 
7 


66  INGHAM  LECTURES.. 

all.  This  appears,  and  it  is  no  great  addition  to  for- 
mer knowledge  :  there  is  a  composition  of  matter 
which  is  the  basis  of  life,  as  being  a  form  of  matter  in 
which  life  manifests  itself;  let  it  be  called  protoplasm, 
the  name  is  harmless.  This  protoplasm  is  formed  from 
unliving  matter ;  its  chemical  constituents  are  water, 
ammonia,  carbonic  acid  ;  it  is  the  same  in  fungus  and 
man,  or  nearly  so ;  the  plant  derives  it  from  the  un- 
living elements,  hydrogen,  nitrogen,  oxygen,  carbon ; 
the  animal  takes  it  from  the  plant ;  when  plant  or 
animal  dies,  the  protoplasm  returns  to  unliving  dust ; 
each  vegetable  elaborates  its  own  protoplasm,  and 
never  that  of  some  other  vegetable  ;  each  seed  has  a 
chemistry  of  its  own  ;  each  animal,  in  turn,  devours 
the  protoplasmic  plant,  or  some  other  protoplasmic 
animal,  and  restores  its  own  wastes,  or  propagates  its 
own  protoplasm.  That  is  all,  and  it  is  not  new.  How 
these  living  beings  got  their  first  protoplasmic  capital, 
or  how  the  chemically  prepared  proteine  got  its  in- 
dwelling life,  does  not  appear  at  all ;  the  solution  is 
not  touched,  and,  we  hesitate  not  to  say,  never  can  be, 
until  we  go  behind  matter,  and  find  its  cause  in  the 
only  cause,  ultimate  spontaneous  will.  It  is  a  quan- 
tity— life  is — alien  from,  and  unknown  to,  matter ;  no 
chemistry  detects  it ;  no  microscope  discovers  its  ad- 
vent. Chemically  and  atomically,  the  protoplasm  in 
which  it  shrines  is  precisely  the  same  before  and  after 
its  advent.  It  comes  from  abroad,  ab  extra,  and  seizes 
a  protoplasmic  cell,  and  from  it,  builds  itself  a  body — 
it  may  be  this  or  that — but  each  seed  or  ovum,  its  own 
body.  This  is  acknowledged  by  both  Darwin  and 
Huxley,  and  is  contradicted  by  no  fact  as  yet  known 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  6? 

to  any  scientist.  Here,  then,  we  rest  as  to  the  origin 
of  life,  in  transcendental  cause.  The  force  of  the  ar- 
gument is,  confessedly,  with  theism ;  all  the  phenom- 
ena of  life  emanate  from  an  extra  material  fountain  ; 
wherever  found,  in  rudimental  cell  or  archangel,  it 
acknowledges  one  Fatherhood  ;  and  with  every  tongue 
of  its  million  million  mouths,  proclaims  the  Godhead 


Sir  William  Thomson,  President  of  "the  British 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,"  in  his 
late  inaugural,  reflected  the  very  latest  phase  of  scien- 
tific thought  on  the  subject ;  and  his  words  are  of  so 
much  value  that  we  give  them  a  place  here : 

"  A  very  ancient  speculation,  still  clung  to  by 
many  naturalists — so  much  so  that  I  have  a  choice 
of  modern  terms  to  quote  in  expressing  it — sup- 
poses that,  under  meteorological  conditions  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  present,  dead  matter  may  have  run 
together  or  crystallized,  or  fermented  into  •  germs  of 
life,'  or  'organic  cells,'  or  'protoplasm.'  But  science 
brings  a  vast  mass  of  inductive  evidence  against  this 
hypothesis  of  spontaneous  generation,  as  you  have 
heard  from  my  predecessor  in  the  president's  chair.f 
Careful  enough  scrutiny  has,  in  every  case  up  to  the 
present  day,  discovered  life  as  antecedent  to  life. 
Dead  matter  can  not  become  living  without  coming 
under  the  influence  of  matter  previously  alive.  This 
seems  to  me  as  sure  a  teaching  of  science  as  the 
law  of  gravitation.  I  utterly  repudiate,  as  opposed 
to  all  philosophical  uniformitarianism,  the  assumption 

*See  Stirling's  "As  Regards  Protoplasm;"  and  M'Cosh's  "Pos- 
itivism," pp.  24,  25,  26.         t  Professor  Huxley,  1870. 


68  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

of  'different  meteorological  condition' — that  is  to  say, 
somewhat  different  vicissitudes  of  temperature,  press- 
ure, moisture,  gaseous  atmosphere — to  produce  or  to 
permit  that  to  take  place,  by  force  or  motion  of  dead 
matter  alone,  which  is  a  direct  contravention  of  what 
seems  to  us  biological  law.  I  am  prepared  for  the  an- 
swer, '  Our  code  of  biological  law  is  an  expression  of 
our  ignorance  as  well  as  of  our  knowledge."  And  I 
say,  Yes ;  search  for  spontaneous  generation  out  of 
inorganic  materials.  Let  any  one  not  satisfied  with 
the  purely  negative  testimony,  of  which  we  have  now 
so  much  against  it,  throw  himself  into  the  inquiry. 
Such  investigations  as  those  of  Pasteur,  Pouchet,  and 
Bastian,  are  among  the  most  interesting  and  moment- 
ous in  the  whole  range  of  natural  history ;  and  their 
results,  whether  positive  or  negative,  must  richly 
reward  the  most  careful  and  laborious  experiment- 
ing. I  confessed  to  being  deeply  impressed  by  the 
evidence  put  before  us  by  Professor  Huxley  ;  and  I 
am  ready  to  adopt,  as  an  article  of  scientific  faith, 
true  through  all  space  and  through  all  time,  that  life 
proceeds  from  life,  and  from  nothing  but  life.* 

"  I  feel  profoundly  convinced  that  the  argument  of 
design  has   been  greatly  too  much  lost  sight  of  in 

*In  the  inaugural  address  here  referred  to,  after  an  immense  array 
of  facts  and  experiments,  all  pointing  in  the  same  direction,  Professor 
Huxley  concedes  that  "the  evidence,  direct  and  indirect,  in  favor  of 
Biogenesis  ['life  from  life,  and  from  nothing  but  life'],  for  all  known 
forms  of  life ;  must  be  admitted  to  be  of  great  weight."  But  that  is  no 
reason  why  the  great  itiductive  philosopher  should  abandon  his  theory! 
He  proceeds :  "  But  though  I  can  not  express  this  conviction  of  mine 
too  strongly,  I  must  carefully  guard  myself  against  the  supposition 
that  I  intend  to  suggest  that  no  such  thing  as  Abiogenesis  [spontane- 
ous generation]  has  ever  taken  place  in  the  past,  or  will  take  place 


ORIGIN  OF  LIFE.  69 

recent  zoological  speculations.  Reaction  against  the 
frivolities  of  teleology,  such  as  are  to  be  found,  not 
rarely,  in  the  notes  of  the  learned  commentators 
on  Paley's  "  Natural  Theology,"  has, .  I  believe,  had  a 
temporary  effect  in  turning  attention  from  the  solid 
and  irrefragable  argument  so  well  put  forward  in  that 
excellent  old  book.  But  overwhelmingly  strong  proofs 
of  intelligent  and  benevolent  design  lie  all  around  us, 
and  if  ever  perplexities,  whether  metaphysical  or  sci- 
entific, turn  us  away  from  them  for  a  time,  they  come 
back  upon  us  with  irresistible  force,  showing  to  us 
through  nature  the  influence  of  a  free  will,  and  teach- 
ing us  that  all  living  beings  depend  on  one  ever- 
acting  Creator  and  Ruler." 

in  the  future.  .  .  .  If  it  were  given  me  to  look  beyond  the 
abyss  of  geologically  recorded  time  to  the  still  more  remote  period 
when  the  earth  was  passing  through  physical  and  chemical  conditions, 
which  it  can  no  more  see  again  than  a  man  can  recall  his  infancy,  / 
should  expect  to  be  a  witness  of  the  evolution  of  living  protoplasm  from  not 
living  matter.  .  .  .  That  is  the  expectation  to  which  analogical 
reasoning  leads  me;  but  I  beg  you  once  more  to  recollect  that  I  have 
no  right  to  call  my  opinion  any  thing  but  an  act  of  philosophic  faith" 
(Spontaneous  Generation :  Lay  Sermons,  pp.  364-366.) 


Lecture  III. 


ORIGIN    OF    SPECIES: 

%xi  ^Examination  *i  3§arfo  In  ism. 


REV.  RANDOLPH    S.  FOSTER,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 

President  of  the  Drezv  Theological  Seminary, 


Madison,  New  Jersey, 


h 


ECTURE  III. 


ORIGIN   OF  SPECIES. 

EXAMINATION    OF    DARWINISM. 

WE  have  seen  that  the  Bible,  as  to  the  origin  of 
life,  finds  no  foe  in,  and  has  no  litigations 
with,  science.     On  this  point  they  are  at  one. 

The  next  question  to  be  discussed  relates  to  the 
origin  of  the  diverse  organisms  in  which  life  appears, 
called,  in  the  terminology  of  science,  Species. 

This  is  the  special  subject  to  the  elucidation  of 
which  Darwin  devotes  himself.  Starting  with  the 
concession  that  life  is  transcendental  or  metaphysical 
in  its  source,  he  confines  himself  to  the  subject  of  its 
evolutions  in  matter ;  more  specifically  he  seeks  to 
show  that,  and  how,  all  organic  forms  have  arisen  by 
the  sole  agency  of  this  factor.  The  idea,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  is  not  original  to  him.  It  has  cropped 
out  many  times  and  in  many  places  along  the  ages. 
He  has  the  merit  of  giving  it  the  most  elaborate 
expression  and  impressive  defense  it  has  yet  received. 
It  takes  his  name,  not  so  much  because  it  is  his  as* 
that  he  is  its  most  eminent  expounder. 

His  theory,  in  brief,  is,  that  all  the  organized  living 

73 


74  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

forms,  now,  or  at  any  past  time,  peopling  the  earth, 
were  evolved  from  a  simple  primitive  mass  of  living 
matter.  This  substance,  impregnated  of  life,  was  the 
most  rudimental  possible.  It  was  disseminated  over 
the  whole  surface  of  the  earth.  Each  infinitesimal 
part  was  a  factor,  containing  in  itself,  potentially,  all 
possible  organisms ;  and  from  these  atomic  centers, 
in  fact,  all  organisms  have  emanated. 

He  thus  states  it :  "  There  is  a  grandeur  in  this 
view  of  life,  with  its  several  powers,  having  been 
originally  breathed  by  the  Creator  into  a  few  forms, 
or  into  one;  and  that,  while  this  planet  has  gone 
cycling  on,  according  to  the  fixed  law  of  gravity, 
from  so  simple  a  beginning,  endless  forms,  most 
beautiful  and  most  wonderful,  have  been,  and  are 
being  evolved."*  At  the  time  of  this  utterance,  Dar- 
win had  not  reached  the  real  point  of  departure 
for  his  theory.  He  evidently  saw  it  dimly,  but 
hesitated.  He  had  traced  the  beginning  of  life  to 
a  few  forms — primitive,  created  organisms  ;  he  saw 
the  foreshadowing  of  a  possible  unity  ;  but  the  ven- 
ture was  too  bold.  Later,  all  uncertainty  seems  to 
have  disappeared,  and  the  few  forms  were  surren- 
dered, and  one  only  remained.  The  final  utterance 
is  in  a  note,  supplemental  to  the  treatise,  and  in 
these  words :  "I  should  infer,  therefore,  that  proba- 
bly all  the  organic  beings,  which  have  ever  lived  on 
this  earth,  have  descended  from  some  one  primordial 
form  into  which  life  was  first  breathed  by  the  Creator." 

It  is  fair  to  say,  that,  among  the  numerous  ex- 
pounders of    this   hypothesis,    there    is    not    perfect 

*  "  Origin  of  Species,"  chap,  xiv,  in  fine. 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  75 

harmony  along  the  entire  line  of  its  assumptions,  rea- 
sonings, and  conclusions.  At  bottom,  there  are  at 
least  three  fundamentally  distinct  schools :  one  of 
which  is  sheerly  materialistic  ;  another,  semi-mate- 
rialistic ;  the  third,  theistic,  and,  with  a  liberal  con- 
struction, Christian, — all  agreeing  in  the  general 
theory  of  evolutionism. 

The  former  knows  only  of  matter.  It  finds  it  ex- 
isting, with  its  inherent  constituent  forces,  among 
which  is  life.  From  the  co-action  of  the  forces,  it 
evolves  the  entire  cosmos  ;  the  life-force  coming  in  as 
the  last  factor,  and  acting  from  the  others  as  fulcrum. 

The  theory  knows  no  such  being  as  a  creator,  and 
no  such  idea  as  creation.  It  is  baldly  atheistic.  That 
one  organism,  or  what  seems  to  be  one  system  of 
related  organisms,  exists  rather  than  another,  is  the 
result  of  no  purpose  resident  anywhere,  but  the  acci- 
dent, merely,  of  blind  forces,  which  act  from  a  neces- 
sity internal  to  themselves. 

This  was,  in  a  former  lecture,  shown  to  be  not  sim- 
ply the  height  of  unreason,  but  absolutely  unthinkable 
and  impossible.  The  attempt  to  unify  substance  by 
locating  intelligence  in  matter,  does  not  relieve  the 
difficulty.  For  the  characteristic  of  the  newly  sup- 
posed force  is,  that  it  is  a  force  which  acts  not  from 
necessity,  but  intelligently  ;  that  is,  from  a  perception 
of  ends  to  be  reached,  and  in  order  to  the  perceived 
ends  ;  therefore,  spontaneously.  Now,  this  new  will- 
factor  must  be  supposed  to  be  primitive,  and  always 
masterful,  in  the  substance  of  which  it  is  integral  ; 
subordinating  other  forces  to  its  ends  ;  or,  otherwise, 
resultant  of  the  action  of  the   more  ancient  forces. 


76  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

If  the  former  case  be  supposed,  then  we  have  a  spon- 
taneous worker  originating  the  cosmos ;  which  is  the 
theistic  idea,  and  the  very  thing  denied  by  the  theory 
under  consideration.  If  the  latter,  then  we  have  the 
double  difficulty  of  accounting  for  the  order  or  adap- 
tation of  means  to  ends,  which  preceded  the  advent 
of  the  factor,  by  which  alone  the  adaptation  could 
exist  ;  and,  what  is  more  serious,  we  have  the  diffi- 
culty of  supposing  a  cause,  which,  as  to  the  effect,  is 
no  cause ;  since  that  which  is  not  intelligent,  can  not 
be  cause  to  intelligence  ;  and,  what  is  yet  more  serious 
still,  we  have  the  difficulty  of  supposing  that  all  the 
intelligence  in  the  universe,  that  which  organized  all 
order,  and  that  which  we  are  conscious  we  possess 
ourselves,  came  out  of  non-intelligence,  sheer  and 
utter  ;  and,  yet  still  more,  we  are  beset  with  the  ne- 
cessity of  denying  action  from  will,  or  spontaneity, 
against  our  consciousness  of  voluntary  activity. 

What  I  would  call  the  second  school  of  evolu- 
tionists, must  be  ranked  as  theistic.  It  differs  funda- 
mentally from  the  school  just  described,  in  that  it 
holds  that  both  matter  and  life  are  created  ;  matter, 
as  a  substance  possessing  definite  forces  ;  life,  as  an 
extraordinary  and  superadded  force.  But  the  life- 
force,  thus  lodged,  by  a  new  creative  fiat,  in  matter, 
was  not  primitively  placed  in  definite  and  discrete 
organisms,  such  as  it  afterward  appeared  in  ;  but  was 
at  first  placed  in  mere  formless  protoplasm,  or  parti- 
cles of  matter,  from  which,  as  so  many  innumerable 
centers,  it  unintelligently  elaborated  diversified  forms 
for  itself.  Thus,  the  life-force  was  theistic  in  its  origin, 
but  atheistic  in  its  evolutions.     God  placed  it  in  form- 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  77 

less  matter,  as  a  power  to  elaborate  forms,  but  left  it 
to  itself  to  work  out  such  forms  as  might  come  from 
the  blind  operation  of  an  unguided  force  ;  so  that  the 
actual  result  of  all  existing  organisms  is  expressive 
of  the  action  of  no  final,  intelligent  will-factor.  This 
is  certainly  the  hypothesis  of  Darwin,  and  indicates 
the  ground  of  the  charge,  made  against  him  by  one 
class  of  his  critics,  of  undiguised  atheism  ;  at  the  same 
time  that  another  class  of  his  admirers  pronounce  him 
a  devout  theist.  In  fact,  as  tried  by  his  scientific 
writings,  he  is  both,  and  neither. 

The  third  school  of  evolutionists — horrified  by  the 
gross  materialism  of  the  first,  and  unsatisfied  with  the 
equivocalness  of  the  second,  and  yet  fascinated  by 
the  glittering  generalizations  of  both,  and  confused  by 
the  array  of  indubitable  facts  which  seem  to  support 
their  conclusions — attempts  a  consistent  theistic  hy- 
pothesis ;  a  theory  of  evolutionism,  which,  at  the 
same  time  that  it  meets  the  demands  of  science,  is 
uncontradicted  by  revelation. 

They  assert  the  direct  agency  of  final  cause,  both 
in  the  origin  and  method  of  matter,  and  all  the  evolu- 
tions of  its  contained  forces.  Every  phenomenon  of 
being  is  traced  to  natural  law,  but  all  natural  law  has 
its  home  and  forth-putting  in  God.  The  grand  struc- 
ture of  the  universe  was  evolved  and  fashioned  to 
precisely  what  it  is,  both  as  to  the  vast  masses  of  in- 
animate matter  and  each  of  the  innumerable  myriads 
of  living  forms,  by  the  necessary  evolution  of  natural 
forces ;  but  these  forces,  each  and  all  alike,  were,  and 
are,  simply  the  fixed  methods  in  which  the  Divine 
factor  carries  out  his  plan.    He  is  the  ultimate  worker, 


?8  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

but  forever  conceals  himself  behind  these  visible  sub- 
agents.  He  created  the  primitive  monads,  and  shrined 
in  them  certain  definite  forces,  which  tended,  as  to 
themselves,  to  necessary  evolution  along  predeter- 
mined lines,  ultimating  in  a  foreseen,  perfectly  adjusted 
cosmos.  Among  the  forces  thus  set  at  work,  but  ap- 
pearing later  in  the  plan,  when  the  atmospheric,  cli- 
matic, and  electrical  conditions  were  suitably  adjusted, 
he  introduced,  by  a  final  creative  fiat,  the  new  tran- 
scendental force,  called  life — transcendental,  metaphys- 
ical, mystical — as  not  included  in  the  original  forces 
constituent  of  matter.  This  new  factor — clothing  it- 
self in  matter,  as  the  electric  force  robes  itself  in  iron 
mail  when  it  rushes  from  hemisphere  to  hemisphere  of 
the  globe,  but  more  spiritual  than  its  magnetic  kins- 
man— was  endowed  with  a  potency  peculiar  to  itself, 
and  commissioned  to  perform  manifold  mysterious 
functions  ;  among  which  were  these  :  It  had  the  power 
of  self-perpetuation,  translation,  and  indefinite  increase; 
it  could  pass  out  of  the  particles  of  its  original  investi- 
ture into  other  particles  where  it  was  not,  but  which, 
by  the  alchemy  of  its  contact,  became  at  once  impreg- 
nated ;  it  could  also  organize  these  impregnated  atoms 
into  unity,  and  thus,  from  infinitesimal  centers,  by 
annexation  and  organization,  concentrate  and  subor- 
dinate their  aggregate  force  to  one  end ;  thus  evolving 
forms  of  wondrous  beauty  and  strength  and  activity, 
to  fill  the  earth,  the  air,  and  the  sea.  But,  in  all  these 
weird  and  marvelous  functions,  it  was  itself  the  slave 
of  law,  imposed  by  its  creator,  and  worked  along 
lines  preordained  by  him,  to  the  accomplishment  of 
his  purpose,  and  not  its  own  ;  whatsoever  it  did,  it 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  79 

did  for  him,  and  by  him ;  it  was,  in  fact,  the  infinite 
creative  force  and  intelligence  polarized  or  concreted 
in  certain  atoms  of  matter,  from  which  it  manifested 
itself  in  all  possible  forms  of  life.  This  is  the  theory 
of  some  evolutionists,  who  are  both  devout  theists 
and  believers  in  revelation.  They  see  no  contradic- 
tion, in  this  view,  to  the  statements  of  the  Bible.  We 
are  not  entirely  sure  that  there  is  any  necessary  con- 
flict. It  is,  certainly,  a  wonderfully  brilliant  and 
beautiful  conception.  Its  boldness  fascinates  us..  It 
appears  to  lessen  the  mystery  of  the  phenomena  of 
life,  and  to  find  favor  in  many  of  the  facts  connected 
therewith  ;  but,  after  all,  we  are  convinced  that  it  is  a 
speculation,  of  which  the  utmost  that  can  be  said  is, 
that  the  creator  might  conceivably  have  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  life  in  this  way.  The  vanity  which  attempts 
to  dogmatize  it  as  science,  is  only  equaled  by  the 
vanity  which  asserts  that  it  certainly  could  not  be. 
We  neither  reject  nor  accept  it,  but  accord  to  it 
hearty  admiration,  as  an  ingenious  speculation  on  a 
point  which  must  forever  be  clothed  in  mystery — the 
modus  operandi  of  the  creative  act.  Neither  its  truth- 
fulness nor  falsity  is  of  consequence  to  our  Christian 
faith  ;  and  as  neither  can  be  ascertained,  we  are  con- 
tent to  leave  it  undisputed  and  unaccepted. 

The  second  theory  is  that  which  we  propose  to 
discuss,  and  which  we  reject,  as  utterly  at  variance 
with  all  known  facts.  The  thesis  is,  that  life  in  its 
most  primitive  form  appeared,  by  a  creative  fiat,  in  mi- 
nute particles  of  matter,  each  particle  being  an  egg, 
or  seed  (so  far  we  have  no  controversy  with  it — it 
may  have  been  so) ;   that  these  quickened  seeds,  or 


80  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

infinitesimal  cells,  had  a  tendency  to  increase  and 
grow  into  indefinite  organisms  ;  and  that  from  them, 
as  so  many  centers,  life's  tree  grew  to  its  topmost 
flower,  man;  all  the  diverse  organisms  growing  from 
the  same  primitive  root,  by  almost  imperceptible 
variations,  until  they  reached  their  utmost  difference. 
Specific  organisms  were  not  contained  in  specific 
seeds ;  but  each  quickened  atom  contained  poten- 
tially, all  possible  organisms — was  the  seed  of  what- 
ever type  might  happen  to  result  from  its  accidental 
evolution  ;  and  that  the  development  has  been  as  it 
has  been,  implies  nothing  of  special  provision  or 
endowment  or  direction  in  the  several  life-centers. 
Nevertheless,  there  was,  in  fact,  for  some  reason  or 
by  a  strange  accident,  a  seeming  method  in  the  sim- 
ultaneous movements  of  the  blind  factors. 

We  are  left  to  infer  the  actual  progress,  but  not 
without  hints  to  guide  us.  It  is  probable  that  it  was 
thus:  At  the  first  essay,  the  cell-factors,  with  marvel- 
ous unanimity,  considering  that  there  was  no  plan  or 
guidance,  evolved  the  minutest  and  most  rudimental 
fungus — a  kind  of  mildew  of  vegetation — microscopic 
mushrooms,  toad-stools,  and  lichens,  over  the  shallow 
pools  and  marshy  surfaces  of  the  earth.  These,  by 
slow  process,  transformed  themselves  into  mosses, 
liverworts,  and  various  kinds  of  algae.  In  due  time, 
and  by  force  of  persistent  effort,  these  grew  into  the 
endless  variety  of  those  ancient  cryptogams,  the  great 
flowerless  ferns  of  the  coal  period,  from  whose  prime- 
val forests  were  corded  away '  the  carbon  which  fur- 
nishes our  jiomes  and  workshops  with  the  thermal 
agents  necessary  to  our  modern  civilization.      Then 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  8 1 

followed  flowering  and  fruit-bearing  shrubs  and  trees 
and  plants,  by  easy  and  natural  transformation,  in  the 
abundance  and  diversity  in  which  they  have  flourished 
along  the  millenniads  even  to  this  day. 

At  some  point,  along  the  infinite  ages,  the  animal 
variety  mysteriously  appeared.  Whether  it  was  a 
transformed  plant,  or  fruit  of  some  ancient  tree,  or 
exalted  diatom,  or  evolution  of  a  primitive  cell-factor, 
science  has  not  yet  been  able  to  find  out  with  entire 
certainty ;  but,  in  either  case,  its  first  form  was  the 
most  rudimental  and  microscopic  possible.  Whatever 
its  origin,  it  immediately  displayed  marked  difference 
from  its  congeners  of  the  vegetable  variety ;  not  a 
difference  of  form  alone,  but  of  fundamental  law  of 
life.  The  vegetable  cell-factors  set  up  life  on  a  mod- 
est scale,  and  extracted  their  humble  fare  from  the 
unsavory  particles  of  water,  carbonic  acid,  and  am- 
monia, in  the  crude  state,  building  up  thus  their  deli- 
cate and  luscious  tissues  into  shapely  and  beautiful 
forms.  The  animal  pigmies  were  both  more  dainty 
and  more  ambitious.  They  scorned  the  unsavory 
elements,  and  went  foraging  remorselessly  on  the 
succulent  protoplasmic  plants  and  fatty  joints  of  their 
less  robust  kinsmen.  When  they  first  appeared,  they 
were  an  exceedingly  low,  and  altogether  ungainly,  mob 
of  extremely  minute  but  murderous  marauders :  pro- 
tozoans they  are  called  by  their  learned  descendants ; 
rhizopods  and  foraminifers,  in  some  of  their  varieties. 
In  process  of  time,  the  more  prosperous  and  robust 
members  of  this  most  ancient  house,  by  a  succession 
of  intermarriages,  established  a  new  order,  known  in 

palseontological  heraldry  as  radiates,  the  old  and  hon- 

8 


82  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

orable  house  of  echinoderms,  polyps,  and  acalephs. 
There  were  adventurers  among  these  also,  who,  dis- 
contented with  the  pre-eminence  of  their  family  name 
and  hereditary  condition,  and  becoming,  by  imper- 
ceptible changes,  extremely  unlike  their  brother  zo- 
ophytes, ceased  to  marry  with  them.  These  swells, 
confining  their  amours  among  themselves,  determined 
to  set  up  a  third  house — the  well-known  molluscan 
family,  which  still  flourishes,  in  almost  infinite  varie- 
ties, of  marvelous  beauty  and  strength,  in  all  the  seas 
of  the  globe. 

Up  to  this  period,  our  ancient  kinsmen  were  con- 
tent to  dwell  in  the  waters ;  but  the  oldest  and  most 
primitive  branch  of  all  —  the  vegetable  cells  —  had 
extended  themselves  over  the  lands,  spreading  out  a 
table  of  rich  and  abundant  protoplasm  along  the 
shores  of  the  rivers,  and  up  among  the  hills  and  val- 
leys, which,  some  of  these  rowdy  and  voracious  mol- 
luscans  perceiving,  their  cupidity  became  inflamed, 
and  they  determined  to  make  incursions  on  the  invit- 
ing pastures  of  their  prosperous  and  unsuspecting 
neighbors.  These  pioneers  of  land-life  soon  became 
a  community  among  themselves ;  and,  under  the  new 
conditions  in  which  they  found  themselves,  thought  it 
wise  to  establish  a  fourth  dynasty — the  respectable 
order  of  articulata,  of  which  are  the  illustrious 
branches,  trilobites,  lobsters,  insects,  decapods,  tetra- 
decapods,  entomostracans,  and  a  great  variety  of  de- 
scendants, living  in  respectability,  both  on  land  and 
in  the  seas,  even  to  our  day. 

The  infinite  ages  rolled  on.  The  struggle  for 
existence  among  these  old  empires  waxed  more  and 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  83 

more  fierce.  Great  warriors  arose  under  the  pressure 
of  the  feuds  and  necessary  strife  for  victory.  Inter- 
necine wars  divided  and  developed  the  bands  of  con- 
tending articulates.  The  result  was,  that,  growing, 
by  dint  of  need  and  effort  and  improved  air  and  other 
altered  conditions,  some  of  the  victorious  households 
became  proud,  sloughed  their  articulated  shells,  made 
themselves  back-bones,  and  declared  a  fifth  dynasty — 
vertebrata. 

This  was  a  grand  advance  in  the  realm  of  life.  It 
was,  in  fact,  in  its  possibilities,  a  new  departure ;  a 
splendid  affair  altogether;  the  founding  of  a  magnifi- 
cent empire  of  cosmopolitan  life  and  enterprise. 
Some  individuals  of  the  new  order  inherited  the  sea- 
faring propensities  of  their  early  ancestors.  These 
betook  themselves  to  the  deep,  and  from  them  have  de- 
scended all  the  piscine,  saurian,  and  reptilian  branches 
of  the  family,  from  the  smelt  to  the  whale  and  ple- 
siosaurus.  Some  were  fond  of  aerial  sports,  and 
they  grew  wings  to  themselves,  and  propagated  or- 
nithological varieties,  from  the  humming-bird  to  the 
eagle.  Other  some  neither  cared  to  fly  nor  yet  to 
swim :  they  feared  things  that  are  high,  and  they  were 
troubled  with  a  malformation  of  the  respiratory  organ, 
which  made  it  difficult  for  them  to  remain  long  in  the 
water;  they  betook  themselves  to  the  woods,  and 
turned  themselves  into  mammals,  from  the  mouse  to 
man.  Thus  it  all  came  about ;  and  this  is  the  simple 
story  of  how  we  all  got  to  be.  Topsy  explained  it  all 
in  a  single  sentence :  "  I  'spects  I  growed." 

This  is  the  genealogy  which  Darwin  and  the  evo- 
lutionists of  all  schools  furnish  us.     It  must  be  con- 


84  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

fessed  that  it  is  not  flattering  to  our  pride ;  that,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  requires  the  surrender  of  time- 
honored  prejudices,  of  boasted  titles,  and  heraldic 
emblazonry ;  and,  more  than  all  these,  the  surrender 
of  the  pre-eminent  distinction  of  a  differentiated  spir- 
itual and  immortal  life.  Is  there  need  for  the  sacri- 
fice ?  Has  science  traced  our  pedigree  to  the  spore 
of  the  "polliwog"  so  certainly  that  we  are  absolutely 
shut  up  to  the  fact ;  or  are  we  only  mocked,  insulted, 
and  traduced  by  the  effrontery  of  base  and  scurrilous 
nescience  ? 

What  are  the  facts  from  which  Darwin  deduces 
these  strange  conclusions  ?  If  the  theory  is  really 
scientific,  it  rests  on  no  uncertain  data ;  it  is  not 
wanting  in  proof.  Science  wastes  no  time  in  stam- 
mering and  muttering  of  conjectures  and  possibilities  ; 
that  is  the  method  of  doubt,  not  of  knowledge.  Its 
sanctions  are  imperative.  It  proudly  points  to  the 
facts,  and  enforces  faith. 

What  are  the  facts  upon  which  it  is  demanded  that 
we  accept  the  conclusion  that  our  most  primitive  an- 
cestor was  a  polliwog  ?  our  most  modern  progenitor 
an  ape  ? — our  genealogical  line  including  all  the  in- 
termediate species  between  these  odious  extremes? 
Has  he  discovered  the  family  record,  and  traced  the 
flower  of  humanity  to  this  ancient  root  ?  Has  he 
discovered,  by  experiment,  or  authentic  observation 
any  where,  that  it  is  so  ?  The  facts  alleged  to  sup- 
port the  thesis  are  these  :  First,  he  posits  the  well- 
known  fact  that  there  is  a  tendency  in  the  offspring 
of  all  living  beings  to  depart  from  an  exact  resem- 
blance to  their  progenitors.     This  he  styles  "  the  law 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  85 

of  variability  of  species."  He  asserts,  and  it  is  not 
disputed,  that  any  offspring  may  vary,  in  any  conceiv- 
able direction,  in  a  minute  degree  from  its  parent, 
and,  by  consequence,  that  all  the  descendants  of  any 
progenitor  will,  and  do,  differ  minutely  among  them- 
selves. This  position  is  sustained  by  a  brilliant  array 
of  exceedingly  interesting  illustrations.  It  is  estab- 
lished beyond  the  possibility  of  dispute.  It  is  fairly  a 
fact  of  science ;  but  his  arguments  were  wholly  unnec- 
essary ;  for  nobody  ever  doubted  it.  He  gives  rich 
interest  to  the  subject,  and  introduces  many  new 
facts  ;  but  he  furnishes  no  data  for  new  conclusions. 
His  next  position  in  logical  order  is,  that,  where 
the  offspring  is  numerous  and  the  ratio  of  increase 
great,  a  struggle  for  existence  must  immediately 
ensue,  in  which  many  must  perish.  This,  as  his  first 
position,  is  perfectly  obvious,  and  is  never  questioned. 
The  point,  it  has  long  been  known,  was  early  reached 
in  the  history  of  developing  life,  where  but  the  mill- 
ionth seed  could  find  a  foot-hold  for  existence  on  the 
soil  that  gave  it  birth.  The  prodigality  of  life,  in 
all  its  forms,  and  especially  the  lowest,  has  been  a 
theme  for  poets  and  moralists,  as  well  as  naturalists, 
from  immemorial  ages.  The  earth  is  a  greedy  mother, 
devouring  most  of  her  children  as  soon  as  they  are 
laid  upon  her  bosom  ;  or  perhaps  it  were  better  to  say, 
she  has  a  passion  for  maternity,  and  her  fecund  womb 
is  more  prolific  than  her  means  for  sustenance ;  her 
matrix  larger  than  her  breasts;  her  mouths  more 
numerous  than  her  pap.  Where  few  can  survive  and 
the  million  must  perish  without  gaining  a  permanent 
hold  on  life,  it  becomes  a  question  which  will   have 


86  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

the  fairest  chance  of  success,  and  which  must  proba- 
bly succumb.  Only  the  successful  can  establish 
dynasties.  This  gives  rise  to  what  Darwin  names 
his  third  law,  or,  what  is  the  third  in  logical  order, 
the  law  of  "  natural  selection,"  called  by  Herbert 
Spencer,  more  happily,  "survival  of  the  fittest;" 
which  means,  simply,  that  certain  facts  of  nature 
determine  which  of  her  offspring  shall  survive  and 
which  perish.  Selection  seems  to  imply  intelligence, 
deliberation,  comparison,  and  election  ;  natural  selec- 
tion, if  this  were  the  meaning,  would  imply  that  na- 
ture, which  is  another  name  for  matter  and  its  phe- 
nomena, as  used  by  these  authors,  is  intelligent,  and 
works  to  rational  lines.  This  is  not  their  meaning. 
By  selection  is  not  meant  intelligently  choosing,  but 
only  this,  that  the  nature  of  the  case  determines  that 
seeds  of  life  will  thrive  in  suitable  conditions,  and 
perish  in  unfavorable  conditions ;  that  the  strong  will 
have  a  better  chance  than  the  weak ;  that  the  proba- 
bilities of  permanence  to  a  given  seed  will  be  accord- 
ing to  the  ratio  of  its  inherent  vigor,  and  the  favora- 
bleness  of  the  circumstances  in  which  it  is  found  to 
exist,  and  vice  versa.  Darwin  has  many  curious 
remarks  on  the  subject  of  sexual  selection,  which  he 
treats  as  a  branch  of  natural  selection  ;  of  the  amours 
of  plants  and  of  microscopic  insects,  monads  in- 
deed ;  with  the  courtships,  coquetry,  and  embraces  of 
birds  and  beasts ;  the  fastidiousness  of  their  tastes  as 
to  color,  form,  and  motion,  and  the  strange  arts  by 
which  they  conduct  their  wooing  and  reach  their  win- 
ning,— which  are  either  mere  imaginings,  or  indicate 
that  he  has  consumed  a  great  deal  of  time  and  been 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  87 

extremely  minute  in  his  observations.  We  are  quite 
willing  to  accept  all  his  facts,  and  therefore  need  raise 
no  questions  on  this  branch  of  his  elaborate  re- 
searches. It  suffices  that  nature,  in  one  way  and 
another,  determines  which  of  her  offspring  shall  sur- 
vive in  the  struggle  for  existence,  and  which  shall 
come  to  grief,  or  extinction.  The  best-conditioned 
varieties  gain  the  ascendency,  and  the  earth  becomes 
full  of  their  children,  who  inherit  their  victorious 
qualities ;  and  so,  on  the  whole,  the  tendency  is  up- 
ward.    Let  it  be  so ;  what  then  ? 

The  answer  is  obvious,  and  it  expresses  Darwin's 
fourth  law  ;  namely,  that,  where  divergence  or  varia- 
tion is  perpetual,  it  only  requires  time  to  reach  the 
utmost  extreme  of  difference  possible.  Given  infinite 
ages,  the  polliwog,  by  a  series  of  minute  changes  in 
each  successive  generation,  will  ultimately  reach  the 
form  of  man,  or,  possibly,  in  some  remote  future,  a 
type  so  transcendently  superior  to  the  lordly  human, 
that  our  unborn  descendants  will  redden  as  deeply 
with  shame  and  scorn  at  the  imputation  of  Adamic 
kinship,  as  we  do  at  the  supposition  of  ancestral  unity 
with  the  toads  and  lizards  of  the  long-vanished  past. 
To  these  laws  Darwin  adds  a  number  of  facts,  which 
he  finds  supporting  his  conclusion. 

First.  He  names  what  he  calls  atavism,  or  rever- 
sion. He  means  by  this,  the  appearance,  occasionally, 
in  every  family,  of  an  individual  who  reproduces  a 
remote  ancestor  in  typical  form,  and  whose  extreme 
unlikeness  to  the  present  generation  marks  the  pro- 
gress of  the  change  which  has  been  imperceptibly 
going  on. 


88  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

Second.  Rudimental  structure,  or  the  appearance, 
in  the  lower  forms,  of  rudimental  members,  which,  in 
process  of  time,  might  develop  into  the  perfectly 
formed  corresponding  members  of  developed  species; 
or,  in  some  instances,  precisely  the  reverse,  rudiments 
of  what  were  once  perfect  members,  but,  by  reason  of 
altered  circumstances  and  disuse,  lapsed  into  mere  ru- 
diments ;  the  fact,  in  both  cases,  showing  the  marvelous 
power  of  the  organism  to  advance  or  retreat,  and  take 
upon  itself  extreme  modifications. 

Third.  Embryonic  phenomena,  which  prove  that 
the  primary  embryonic  condition  of  all  living  beings 
is  identical ;  and  that  the  embryonic  changes  are  so 
similar  that,  at  any  given  periods,  all  creatures  have 
a  precise  resemblance ;  from  which  it  is  inferred  that 
any  embryonic  being  might,  under  favorable  or  unfa- 
vorable circumstances,  develop  upward  or  downward 
into  any  living  form. 

Fourth.  General  resemblances  among  all  orders, 
as  they  appear  in  living  species,  showing  a  closely 
articulated  chain  of  fundamentally  similar  links,  con- 
secutively differentiated  by  almost  imperceptible  diver- 
sities ;  so  that,  beginning  at  the  inferior  extreme,  we 
are  enabled  to  see  how,  by  a  slight  departure,  each 
successive  modification  arose,  until  the  superior  ex- 
treme was  reached. 

Fifth.  The  fact  that  is  now  made  certain  by  geo- 
logical research,  as  revealed  in  the  rocky  strata  of 
the  earth,  that  most  anciently  the  crudest  and  lowest 
typical  forms  alone  existed  ;  and  that  the  actual  order 
of  the  appearance  of  life  has  been  that  of  an  ascend- 
ing scale  from  the  beginning  until  now. 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  89 

These  are  the  supposed  laws  and  ground-facts 
upon  which  the  theory  is  assumed  securely  to  rest. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  they  not  only  have  the 
appearance  of  great  plausibility,  but  that  they  give 
the  hypothesis  the  semblance  of  solidity  and  strength, 
in  a  very  high  degree.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
that,  to  many  minds,  the  fascinating  dream  seems  to 
be  demonstrated  reality ;  that,  yielding  themselves 
to  what  appears  to  be  irresistible  argument,  they 
account  resistance  and  hesitation  in  others  the  result 
of  blind  prejudice  or  willful  ignorance. 

The  theory  stands  upon  this  high  vantage-ground, 
that  its  facts  are,  indisputably,  substantially  as  posited, 
and  they  appear  to  go  directly  to  the  conclusion. 

Why  are  we  not  convinced  ?  The  question  is  a 
reasonable  one.  The  assault  upon  hereditary  opinions 
is  so  far  effective  that  the  demand  is  fully  made  out, 
that  we  attend  to  the  case  and  put  in  an  answer, 
or  allow  judgment  to  be  entered  up  against  us  by 
default. 

We  have  already  stated,  that  of  the  first  two  of 
these  positions  there  can  be  no  dispute ;  they  rise 
above  mere  conjecture  into  the  region  of  assured 
certainty.  The  third  is  probably  true.  Species  are 
not  confined  to  one  variety.  They  have  wide  mar- 
gins, of  considerable  possible  and  actual  difference. 
From  the  same  primitive  root-stock,  it  is  safe  to 
infer,  have  proceeded  many  quite  unresembling  but 
fundamentally  resembling  varieties.  Individual  pecul- 
iarities propagated,  and  peculiarities  created  by  cir- 
cumstances, have  been  perpetuated  along  wide  and 
far-extended  lines,  and  become,  in  some  instances,  so 

9 


90  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

great  a  departure  from  the  stock-pattern  as  almost  to 
obliterate  the  genealogy.  The  human  species  is  an 
example,  but  not  by  any  means  the  strongest. 

It  is  in  the  fourth  predicate  that  we  find  the  fatal 
fallacy,  which  breaks  the  chain  in  the  midst ;  namely, 
where  divergence  is  perpetual,  it  only  requires  time  to 
reach  the  utmost  variation  possible.  Hence,  given 
infinite  time — which  means  no  more  than  geological 
time,  which  is  practically  infinite — the  divergence 
might,  nay,  certainly  would,  reach  from  the  polliwog 
to  man ;  one  minute  change  following  another,  such 
as  we  observe  taking  place,  would  ultimately  traverse 
the  whole  distance,  and  reach  the  end.  This  looks 
like  a  statement  which  expresses  a  necessary  truth ; 
but  a  little  examination  will  suffice  to  show  that  it 
contains  a  fundamental  fallacy.  The  variation  in  the 
individuals  of  a  species  from  the  stock-pattern  is  not 
a  longitudinal  one,  which  carries  them  further  and 
further  away  from  the  stock-pattern  into  fundament- 
ally new  types,  which  is  the  assumption  here,  but  it 
is  variation  of  a  fundamentally  permanent  pattern. 
The  law  of  disresemblance  among  living  beings  of 
the  same  stock  is  not  that  of  the  disresemblance  of 
beings  of  diverse  stocks.  The  change  or  variation  per- 
petuated through  infinite  ages,  is  variation  within  a 
circle,  not  along  a  line.  This  is  a  most  important 
fact ;  so  trenchant  that,  if  it  be  a  fact,  it  is  abso- 
lutely fatal  to  the  whole  hypothesis  of  evolutionism. 
All  the  elaborate  and  learned  dissertations  that  have 
been  written  on  the  subject,  dash  into  foam  and  spray 
upon  this  rock. 

That  it  is  a  fact,  we  allege,  is  in  positive  proof,  in 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  9 1 

that  not  a  single  instance  has  been  found,  in  the  entire 
history  of  life,  of  the  offspring  of  one  stock-pattern 
taking  upon  it  the  form  of  a  fundamentally  different 
type.  No  man  has  ever  observed  a  single  instance  of 
the  kind.  Geology  declares  unequivocally,  as  is  the 
testimony  of  all  the  masters  in  that  science,  that  it 
knows  of  no  such  event  in  all  the  ages  of  life.  Numer- 
ous attempts  have  been  set  on  foot,  by  means  of  arti- 
ficial selection,  breed-crossing,  change  of  condition, 
and  all  other  possible  artifices,  to  divert  nature  from 
her  established  order,  but  utterly  without  success. 
Minute  variations  have  been  produced,  but  no  funda- 
mental departure  has  been  attained,  either  per  saltum 
or  by  long  and  tedious  processes.  Some  species,  as 
man,  dog,  horse,  pigeon,  have  shown  remarkable  facility 
of  variation,  capacity  to  take  on  new  and  marked  pecul- 
iarities, which  come  to  comparative  permanence,  under 
changes  of  condition,  place,  habit,  food,  and  matters 
of  this  kind ;  but  they  have  never  been  known  to  be- 
come something  else  than  man,  dog,  horse,  pigeon. 
Neither  accident  nor  methodical  effort  has  developed 
a  new  species,  so  far  as  has  become  known  to  man. 

In  some  instances,  two  neighboring  species  of  close 
general  resemblance  have  married,  and  progeny  has 
been  the  result ;  the  offspring  taking  on  some  resem- 
blances to  each  of  the  progenitors.  But  in  every  such 
case  the  hybrid  has  been  infertile ;  so  that,  even  when 
the  stock-patterns  of  life  have  run  so  close  together  as 
to  be  almost  identical,  it  has  been  impossible  to  break 
over  the  fixed  bounds.  This  is  admitted  by  Darwin, 
and,  indeed,  can  be  disputed  by  none. 

All  known  facts,  thus,  we  positively  aver,  stand 


92  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

solidly  against  the  hypothesis.  How,  it  will  be  asked, 
does  Darwin  reply  to  this  damaging  allegation  ?  In  the 
easiest  manner  possible,  by  manufacturing  another  as- 
sumption ;  namely,  that  the  confessed  absence  of  proof 
is  not  because  there  is  no  proof;  not  because  the  case 
is  not  as  supposed  ;  but  because,  in  the  first  place,  we 
have  not  lived  long  enough  to  note  the  changes  which 
have  taken  place  in  infinite  ages  ;  and,  in  the  second 
place,  the  geological  record  has  only  been  discovered 
in  scraps  and  fragments.  If  we  could  but  find  a  wit- 
ness of  sufficiently  broad  experience,  or  an  unbroken 
record  of  the  facts,  we  should  find  them  supporting 
his  hypothesis.  And  yet,  further,  that  the  absence 
of  positive  proof  is  not  the  absence  of  proof;  that 
though  it  be  admitted  as  true  that  no  instance  is 
known  of  a  translation  of  species,  yet  it  must  be 
allowed  that  such  remarkable  variations  do  often  take 
place  as  to  make  it  probable.  What  are  the  cases  ? 
Darwin  devotes  many  pages  to  this  particular  point, 
and  it  may  be  presumed  that  he  brings  the  most 
forcible  facts  known  for  its  maintenance.  He  has 
himself,  in  a  brief  period,  by  crossing  the  breeds  of 
pigeons,  produced  new  varieties,  with  shorter  beaks, 
gayer  plumage,  and  a  few  more  feathers  in  the  tail ; 
therefore,  he  infers  that,  if  he  could  carry  on  the 
process  for  a  great  number  of  ages,  he  could  certainly 
turn  a  pigeon  into  a  man  ;  and  as  the  variability  of 
sheep  has  been  shown  to  be  fully  as  great  as  that  of 
pigeons,  the  argument  is  just  as  clear  that  a  South- 
down might,  nay,  certainly  would,  in  an  endless  suc- 
cession of  generations,  become  bimanous,  erect  of 
posture,  rational,  and  employ  the  tailor  to  make  his 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  93 

clothes  ;  and  as  florists  have  been  able  to  variegate 
roses  and  geraniums,  both  as  to  bloom  and  fragrance, 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  a  time  might  come,  far 
along  the  eternities,  when  they  would  compose  ora- 
torios, wear  silks  and  satins,  and  take  their  protoplasm 
with  knives  and  forks. 

The  argument  from  resemblance  of  structure  is 
considered  of  great  value  by  Darwin.  He  thus  puts 
it  in  his  "  Descent  of  Man :" 

"  The  homological  construction  of  the  whole  frame 
in  the  members  of  the  same  class,  is  intelligible,  if  we 
admit  their  descent  from  a  common  progenitor,  to- 
gether with  their  subsequent  adaptation  to  diversified 
conditions.  On  any  other  view,  the  similarity  of  pat- 
tern between  the  hand  of  a  man  or  monkey,  the  foot 
of  a  horse,  the  flipper  of  a  seal,  the  wing  of  a  bat,  etc., 
is  utterly  inexplicable.  It  is  no  scientific  explanation 
to  assert  that  they  have  all  been  formed  on  the  same 
ideal  plan.  With  respect  to  development,  we  can 
clearly  understand,  on  the  principle  of  variations  su- 
pervening at  a  rather  late  embryonic  period,  and  being 
inherited  at  a  corresponding  period,  how  it  is  that  the 
embryos  of  wonderfully  different  forms  should  still 
retain,  more  or  less  perfectly,  the  structure  of  their 
common  progenitor.  No  other  explanation  has  ever 
been  given  of  the  marvelous  fact,  that  the  embryos  of 
man,  dog,  seal,  bat,  reptile,  etc.,  can,  at  first,  hardly 
be  distinguished  from  each  other.  In  order  to  under- 
stand the  existence  of  rudimentary  organs,  we  have 
only  to  suppose  that  a  former  progenitor  possessed  the 
parts  in  question  in  a  perfect  state,  and  that  under 
changed  habits  of  life,  they  become  greatlv  reduced, 


94  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

either  from  simple  disuse,  or  through  the  natural  se- 
lection of  those  individuals  which  were  least  incum- 
bered with  a  superfluous  part,  aided  by  the  other 
means  previously  indicated. 

"  Thus,  we  can  understand  how  it  has  come  to 
pass,  that  man,  and  all  other  vertebrate  animals,  have 
been  constructed  on  the  same  general  model,  why  they 
pass  through  the  same  early  stages  of  development, 
and  why  they  retain  certain  rudiments  in  common. 
Consequently,  we  ought  frankly  to  admit  their  com- 
munity of  descent ;  to  take  any  other  view,  is  to  admit 
that  our  structure,  and  that  of  all  animals  around  us, 
is  a  mere  snare,  laid  to  entrap  our  judgment. 

"  The  conclusion  is  greatly  strengthened,  if  we 
look  to  the  members  of  the  whole  animal  series,  and 
consider  the  evidence  derived  from  their  affinities  or 
classification,  their  geographical  distribution  and  geo- 
logical succession.  It  is  only  our  natural  prejudice, 
and  that  arrogance  which  made  our  forefathers  declare 
that  they  were  descended  from  the  demi-gods,  which 
lead  us  to  demur  to  this  conclusion.  But  the  time 
will  come,  before  long,  when  it  will  be  thought  won- 
derful that  naturalists,  who  were  well  acquainted  with 
the  comparative  structure  and  development  of  man 
and  other  mammals,  should  have  believed  that  each 
was  the  work  of  a  separate  act  of  creation." 

It  is  not  merely  in  the  physical  organism  that  he 
traces  a  minute  resemblance  between  all  living  beings, 
from  a  mushroom  to  a  man ;  but  it  is  no  less  striking 
in  what  are  called  the  mental  and  ethical  powers.  If 
a  giraffe  or  an  alligator  is  a  close  physical  copy  of  the 
Apollo  Belvidere,   the   perfect   human   type,  so   the 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  95 

mental  resemblances  are  equally  strong.  Carlo  barks 
in  his  sleep ;  therefore  Carlo  has  the  power  ol  imagina- 
tion ;  therefore  he  resembles  Milton  ;  therefore  some 
future  pup,  Newfoundland  or  terrier,  in  the  infinite 
ages,  may  write  the  "  Paradise  Lost."  Carlo  has  a 
hang-dog  look  when  he  is  chided  ;  therefore  he  feels 
the  sentiment  of  shame  ;  therefore  he  is  a  moral  be- 
ing ;  therefore  the  time  will  come  when  his  descend- 
ants will  write  books,  like  Hopkins's  "  Law  of  Love," 
build  temples,  and  quarrel  on  questions  in  ethics  and 
casuistry.  The  ape  uses  a  stone  to  crack  the  shell  of 
a  cocoa-nut ;  therefore  he  is  an  inventor ;  therefore  he 
will,  in  the  ages  to  come,  build  steam-ships,  railroads, 
and  printing-presses.  In  a  word,  every  living  thing  is 
an  incipient  man,  and  has  a  close  physical,  mental,  and 
moral  resemblance  to  man,  and,  in  infinite  time,  will 
come  to  the  estate  of  man.  Is  it  absurd?  Do  not 
imagine  that  I  misrepresent  Darwin  when  I  assert  it 
is  precisely  his  argument,  stripped  of  disguises,  and  car- 
ried to  its  legitimate  end.  His  position  is,  that  there 
is  a  fundamental  unity  among  all  things  living,  and  a 
diversity,  which,  in  infinite  ages,  returns  to  unity ; 
each  living  thing  containing  in  itself,  incipiently,  all 
the  possibility  of  every  other  living  thing,  and  only 
requiring  time  and  conditions  to  attain  the  topmost 
possibility.  A  pig,  taken  miles  away  from  home,  will 
return  on  a  mathematical  line ;  therefore  he  is  an  in- 
cipient mathematician,  knows  astronomy,  and  under- 
stands the  axiom,  "A  straight  line  is  the  shortest 
distance  between  two  points  ;"  and,  some-millenniads 
hence,  one  of  his  descendants  will  write  the  "  Prin- 
cipia,"   or   project  a   geometry  of  the   heavens.      In 


$6  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

on-coming  ages,  the  progeny  of  mice  and  men,  quar- 
relsome landlord  and  tenant  now,  will  worship  in  the 
same  pew,  preach  over  the  same  pulpit,  and  give  their 
sons  and  daughters  in  wedlock.  It  is  only  a  question 
of  time. 

We  confess  that  we  are  not  convinced.  Even  at 
the  hazard  of  appearing  dull  and  obstinate  and  un- 
scientific, we  must  profess  disability  to  see  the  point. 
It  may  be  a  natural  defect,  or  an  acquired  infirmity; 
but  whether  from  one  cause  or  the  other,  it  is  a  fact 
that  we  are  unable  to  discern  the  remarkable  resem- 
blance alleged  in  the  case.  To  our  strangely  dis- 
torted powers  of  discernment  and  perception,  there 
does  seem  to  be  a  difference,  quite  noticeable,  between 
a  flea  and  a  mastodon,  a  mosquito  and  a  finner-whale, 
a  maggot  and  a  man.  The  resemblance  between  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  and  a  kangaroo  does  not,  to  our  thought, 
necessitate  a  common  parentage.  In  fact,  we  labor 
under  the  strange  hallucination  that,  given  the  design, 
in  a  creative  mind  of  infinite  power,  to  people  the 
world  with  life  in  the  greatest  possible  physiological 
variety,  embracing  the  widest  conceivable  extremes, 
he  could  not  have  either  multiplied  or  intensified  the 
disresemblances.  Neither  unity  of  type  nor  poverty 
of  invention  appears  to  be  a  fact  noticeable  in  the 
scheme  of  creation.  Certain  stock  features  must 
characterize  all  life ;  as,  arrangements  for  gestation, 
locomotion,  alimentation,  sensation,  and  propagation. 
To  accomplish  these  ends,  amid  whatever  diversity, 
there  must  be  remote  similarity  of  plan.  For  loco- 
motion, for  instance,  the  arrangement  must  be  for 
propulsion  either  in  the  air,  or  in   water,  or  on  the 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  97 

solid  earth  ;  and  for  these,  all  diversities  must  include 
either  wings,  fins,  sails,  legs,  or  sinuosities,  or  some- 
thing of  the  kind.  Is  there  not  variety  enough  in  the 
kinds,  number,  and  fashion  of  these,  from  the  gossa- 
mer wing  of  the  butterfly  to  the  double-braced  pinion 
of  the  eagle;  from  the  hair-like  leg  of  the  centipede 
to  the  mill-post  limb  of  the  elephant  ?  Is  it  a  fact 
that  a  human  hand,  the  antennae  of  a  spider,  a  bat's 
wing,  and  a  tiger's  claw,  are  so  fashioned  after  one 
model,  that  I  must  suppose  them  originally  one,  or 
slur  the  Architect  of  the  universe  with  charges  of 
sterility  of  contrivance  ? 

The  argument  from  embryonic  phenomena  is  no 
more  convincing.  We  accept  the  very  questionable 
facts  as  posited :  most  primitively  of  all,  every  life,  of 
every  species,  to  all  appearance,  is  identical ;  in  the 
germ  there  is  no  sign  of  difference.  What  of  it  ? 
Why  not  ?  Each  higher  development  passes  through 
all  the  embryonic  changes  of  all  lower  forms  in  reach- 
ing maturity ;  is  successively  polyp,  tadpole,  fish,  bird, 
quadruped,  man.  Be  it  so  ;  what  then  ?  Are  there 
not  marked  differences  and  invariable  peculiarities 
enough  ?  Who  ever  heard  of  an  embryo  of  one  spe- 
cies stopping  short  of  its  type,  or  transcending  it  ? 
Is  it  so  that  there  is  really  such  a  correspondence 
between  the  act  of  a  shad  in  spawning  its  young,  an 
eagle  in  incubating  and  breeding  young  eaglets,  an 
English  rabbit  and  other  animal  varieties  in  propagat- 
ing their  kinds,  and  a  daughter  of  Eve  in  giving  birth 
to  her  human  children,  that  we  can  see  no  difference, 
or  at  most  only  a  slight  modification,  which  time  and 
circumstances    will    account    for?      Allow    that    the 


98  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

young  Adam  takes  on  all  known  embryonic  stages  in 
reaching  his  superior  perfection  of  organism  ;  that  he 
is,  when  mature,  microcosmic,  the  embodiment  of  all 
types ;  does  that  fact  show  community  of  root  ? 
Where  is  the  proof?  To  infer  it  is  an  instance  of 
hasty  generalization,  which  savors  more  of  presump- 
tion than  wise  induction.  No  more  convincing  is  the 
fact  that  life  did  certainly  begin  with  the  lowest  or- 
ganisms, and  progress  in  an  order  of  eminence  till  it 
reached  man.  And  why  not  ?  Can  any  one  show  a 
reason  why  these  diverse  orders  should  not  exist,  or 
why  they  should  not  be  introduced  in  the  precise 
order  that  has  actually  obtained  ?  We  are  not  able  to 
see  it.  Is  their  presence  in  the  time  and  place  so 
manifest  a  blunder  that  we  must  find  folly  in  the 
cause?  or  is  the  ever-improving  type  a  reason  for 
dispensing  with  a  creator?  Is  not  progress,  climax, 
the  most  fitting  conception  of  a  great  drama?  How 
could  the  Infinite,  who  has  eternal  ages  for  his  evolu- 
tions, and  immensities  of  space  for  the  theater  of  his 
operations,  and  immeasurable  resources  of  power  and 
invention  with  which  to  diversify  his  wonderful  cos- 
mos, and  no  need  of  haste  to  the  conclusion  of  his 
manifold  creations, — how  could  he  more  fittingly  pro- 
ceed to  inaugurate,  and  lead  on  to  its  culmination, 
creation's  pomp,  than  by  the  adoption  of  the  method 
actually  pursued  ?  Most  primitively  of  all,  he  laid  the 
foundations  of  his  magnificent  temple  in  the  atomic 
stones,  out  of  which  he  was  to  beautify  its  walls 
and  hang  its  dome  with  diamonds.  He  was  in  no 
haste,  so  he  took  ages  to  bring  forth  the  top-stone  of 
the  material  structure,  with  shouting  of  Grace,  Grace, 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  99 

unto  it !  It  was  worthy  of  God  as  it  hung,  blazing 
with  the  radiance  of  its  thousand  suns,  above  the 
brow  of  ancient  night ;  more  worthy  yet,  as  it  swept 
in  sublime  circuits,  orb  wheeling  in  concert  with  lu- 
cent orb,  to  the  fraction  of  a  moment  in  the  comple- 
tion of  a  revolution,  which  light  only  would  trace  in 
millions  of  years.  Then  opened  the  drama  of  life. 
Why  should  not  the  algae,  humblest  of  its  kind,  lead 
out  the  floral  pomp  of  endless  Springs?  Why  not 
verdure  first  fringe  the  golden  streams  with  banks  of 
moss,  and  then  cover  the  hills  and  valleys  with  the 
woody  fiber  of  stalwart  oaks  and  cone-bearing  pines  ? 
Why  should  not  protozoa  come  forth,  with  their  head- 
less train,  and  mustering  after  them,  adown  the  long- 
drawn  ages,  fishes  of  every  fin,  birds  of  every  plumage, 
mammals  of  every  spot  and  form,  until — grandest  of 
all,  and  that  for  which  the  rest  were  made — the  Adam 
should  march  through  opening  ranks  to  his  palace 
and  his  throne? 

To  our  conception,  there  is  infinite  harmony  and 
beauty  in  the  successive  acts  from  protozoa  to  the 
human  age.  Each  lifting  of  the  curtain  thrills  us 
with  fresh  pageants  more  brilliant  than  the  last.  The 
great  artist,  in  the  unity  of  his  plan,  but  inexhaustible 
diversity  of  the  figures,  and  ever-increasing  impress- 
iveness  of  the  growing  drama,  more  and  more  holds 
us  breathless  in  expectation  of  the  coming  act. 
When  the  curtain  of  the  grave  drops,  is  that  the 
end  ?  So  says  Darwin  and  all  his  worshipers.  So 
we  should  say,  had  we  no  light  but  the  feeble  flicker 
of  earth-born  science.  It  quenches  its  torch  in  the 
tears  and  darkness  of  the  grave.     So  says  not  faith. 


IOO  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

With  an  eye  undimmed  by  death,  it  pierces  the 
darkness  of  the  tomb,  and  reveals  a  realm  of  more 
transcendent  beauty  than  the  drama  of  life  has  yet 
unfolded.  Upon  its  gaze  there  rise  invisible  splen- 
dors ;  and  the  great  God  and  maker  of  all  walks 
among  his  rejoicing  children,  "wiping  away  tears  from 
all  faces ;  and  there  is  no  more  death,  nor  pain,  nor 
sorrow ;  for  the  former  things  are  fled  away." 

After  all  human  efforts,  and  as  the  sum  total  of 
the  results  of  human  endeavor,  to  fathom  the  mystery 
of  life,  we  have  these  facts,  and  no  more :  First,  that 
life  exists  in  connection  with  matter ;  second,  so  far 
as  known,  it,  in  no  case,  has  appeared  in  unliving 
matter  except  by  transmission ;  third,  it  appears,  in 
the  first  stages  of  an  organism,  as  a  minute  germ ; 
fourth,  the  germ  invariably  emanates  from  an  organ- 
ism previously  matured;  fifth,  the  germ  advances  by 
growth  and  several  stages  of  development  to  a  sub- 
stantial resemblance  to  the  organism  which  produced 
it,  and  in  no  case  to  one  substantially  different ; 
sixth,  it  has  appeared  on  the  earth  in  an  order,  as  to 
time,  of  progressive  perfection  of  organic  structure 
and  vital  power ;  finally,  while  each  individual  differs 
from  every  other  of  its  kind,  and  is  subject  to  modifi- 
cations, in  some  instances  in  a  remarkable  degree,  from 
the  stock  pattern,  the  difference,  in  no  case,  is  funda- 
mental. These  are  the  things  that  are  known,  and 
they  are  also  the  things  that  are  revealed.  What  life 
is,  whence  it  came,  and  how  it  arose,  no  solution  has 
been  furnished,  though  many  times  attempted,  other 
than  that  which  is  given  in  revelation. 

In  the  absence  of  positive  proof  that  our  imme- 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  I O I 

diate  ancestor  was  an  ape,  we  confess  to  the  weakness 
of  tempered  zeal  in  pushing  the  claim  to  kinship. 
The  advantages  do  not  appear  so  great  as  to  make  us 
anxious  to  strain  the  argument,  or ;  tfesKnurs  to  en.tcir 
upon  the  proffered  honors  before  our  claim,  is, fijiljj  », 
established.  The  Adam,  whatever  i  ,out"  prejifdic'es*  "'  ' 
might  dictate,  we  are  constrained  to  admit,  seems  to 
have  a  tolerably  clear  title  to  our  allegiance.  In  any 
event,  we  must  be  allowed  time  to  look  about  before 
we  make  a  final  surrender  of  the  venerable  faith 
which  has  become  sacred  by  so  many  memories,  and 
which,  even  to  this  hour,  makes  so  brave  a  fight  for 
the  life  which  others  would  take  away. 

We  have  said  nothing  in  this  discussion  of  the 
positive  argument,  which  buttresses  the  citadel  of 
revelation,  and  which  for  ages  has  made  it  invincible 
to  its  assailants,  and  which  becomes  more  and  more 
impregnable  by  each  successive  assault.  We  have  been 
content  to  take  the  new  enemy  upon  his  chosen  ground, 
and  upon  his  own  facts  have  shown  that,  however 
proficient  in  science,  in  this  case,  by  departing  from 
science,  he  becomes  a  mere  bastard  pretender,  without 
claim  to  the  ambitious  title  which  he  assumes.  Sci- 
ence disowns  him,  and  throws  its  protecting  arms 
around  the  Bible  he  asperses  and  seeks  to  slay. 

Let  scientists  proceed  with  their  investigations; 
let  them,  by  patient  observation  and  tentative  experi- 
ment, educe  all  possible  laws  and  facts,  and  they  may 
be  assured  of  rich  rewards  of  gratitude  and  praise 
from  their  fellow-men.  Every  true  advance  they 
make  enriches  the  present  and  future  ages ;  exhumes 
wealth  and  blessing  from  the  earth ;  extracts  health 


102  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

and  power  from  the  atmosphere,  and  draws  down  cul- 
ture and  benediction  from  stars  and  globes  above  us. 
Let  them  go  on  with  their  brave  and  humanizing 
work;  but  tev;  '-.hem  not,  becoming  bewildered  by  their 
brilliant  vocation  and  almost  miraculous  achievements, 
transcend  their  calling,  and  undertake  to  palm  off 
mere  conceits  for  knowledge.  As  often  as  they  have 
undertaken  to  do  this — and  the  instances  are  not  few — 
from  being  justly  admired  for  their  discoveries  they 
have  come  to  be  pitied  for  their  empty  boastings.  The 
good  they  have  done  has  been  made  the  instrument 
of  injury  ;  and  from  being  the  friends,  they  have  come 
to  be  the  enemies,  of  mankind.  Physical  science  is  a 
magnificent  department,  and,  to  him  who  has  the  skill 
and  patience  to  pursue  it  well,  is  ordained  a  high 
vocation ;  but  it  is  a  department  only,  not  the  whole. 
Its  earnest  culture  calls  into  requisition  talents  of  a 
peculiar  kind ;  and  these  it  absorbs  so  completely  and 
employs  so  exclusively,  that  but  little  time  or  occasion 
is  left  for  the  development  of  other  and  not  less  noble 
powers.  So  long  as  the  scientist  remains  in  his  realm 
of  material  laws  and  facts,  he  is  a  king ;  but  when  he 
attempts  to  extend  his  scepter  over  the  departments 
of  mind  and  ethics  and  faith,  he  becomes  illegitimate, 
a  vain  braggart  and  pretender,  and  his  power  departs 
from  him  ;  his  voice,  that  was  as  the  voice  of  God,  be- 
comes as  the  unmusical  croakings  of  odious  things. 
Let  him  not  imagine,  because  we  listen  with  delight, 
and  behold  with  rapture,  when  he  discourses  to  us, 
with  tongue  or  apparatus,  of  the  wonders  of  chemis- 
try, astronomy,  geology,  or  other  of  his  arts,  that  we 
therefore  will  obsequiously  accept  him  as  master  when 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  103 

he  promulgates  his  crudities  on  subjects  of  which,  if 
he  were  modest,  he  would  confess  that  he  knows  noth- 
ing. The  highest  proof  of  his  unfitness  and  incapac- 
ity is,  that  he  presumes  to  dominate  when  he  ought 
to  be  silent ;  to  impugn  powers  and  authorities,  which, 
in  their  department,  are  not  less  regal  than  he  is  in 
his  own. 

Two  things,  rest  assured,  science  can  never  do : 
it  can  not  employ  nature  to  expunge  God  ;  it  can  not 
suborn  matter  to  displace  mind.  Rightly  pursued,  it 
will  go  forward  with  its  retorts  and  pick  and  reagents, 
lifting  the  cloud  of  ignorance  from  the  face  of  nature, 
and  pouring  light  into  every  dark  recess  of  being  ;  but 
the  further  it  goes,  and  the  more  profound  its  discov- 
eries, the  more  resplendently  shall  it  find  shining  the 
glory  of  His  power  and  wisdom,  who  made  all.  And 
even  as  it  discovers  him,  so,  it  is  our  firm  belief,  it  will 
discover,  in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  the  exact  and 
beautiful  conformity  of  his  revelation  to  the  facts  and 
wonders  of  his  creation — a  harmony  as  complete  as 
the  author  is  glorious.  Certain  it  is  that,  up  to  this 
hour,  every  advance  of  knowledge  into  the  realm  of 
nature  ;  the  lifting  of  the  veil  from  each  secret  that 
has  yet  been  discovered  ;  the  exposure  of  all  the  mis- 
takes that  have  yet  been  made ;  the  detection  of 
every  previously  unknown  law  and  force, — has  only 
brought  into  more  brilliant  manifestation  the  reality 
and  regality  of  mind,  the  glory  and  eternity  and  infi- 
nite majesty  of  transcendental  cause.  Each  new 
knowledge  has  come,  like  the  pilgrim  magi,  bearing  in 
its  arms  precious  gifts  and  kingly  trophies,  to  crown 
and  do  reverent  homage  to  noble  faith.     No  ;  it  is  not 


104  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

science  that  has  been  an  enemy  to  faith,  that  has  put 
in  peril  the  idea  of  mind  as  a  reality  distinct  from 
matter,  and  final,  personal  cause  of  all  that  is; — but 
idle  conjecture  only,  and  a  brazen-faced  presumption, 
which  deserves  only  rebuke  for  its  profanity,  and  hor- 
ror for  its  blasphemy.  It  is  a  slander  against  science, 
which  we  resent ;  and  a  protest  against  the  dishonor 
of  its  name,  which  we  make. 

The  instance  in  hand  comes  with  more  boldness 
than  usual,  and  parades,  with  measured  pomp,  august 
names  and  sounding  titles  ;  but  it  is  not  an  exception, 
either  as  to  the  grounds  or  measure  of  its  presumption. 

That  were  a  bold  conjecture,  indeed,  which  perti- 
naciously insists  upon  its  right  to  be  respected,  when 
it  stands  rebuked  before  the  best-known  facts  of 
science,  and  finds  not  a  single  voice  of  nature  or  rea- 
son raised  in  its  support,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
world  until  now  ;  but  only  a  wild  acclaim  of  angry 
protest  from  every  mouth  of  animated  being. 

Given  all  the  facts  claimed  by  evolutionists,  we 
make  no  approach  to  the  conclusion  adduced.  The 
blasphemous  theory  fails  at  its  own  venue.  When  its 
witnesses  come  to  the  tribunal,  they  rebel  against  the 
indictment,  and  glow  with  rage  against  the  prostitu- 
tion attempted.  As  they  come  mustering  down  the 
ages  at  the  summons,  and  answer  to  the  call,  each  fact, 
with  loud  and  sonorous  voice,  declares  against  the 
profane  thesis  which  implores  its  support.  The  rocks 
cry  out,  and  the  grave-yards  of  a  million  generations 
rattle  their  bones  in  anger ;  and  not  a  single  recusant, 
from  protozoa  downward,  comes  to  the  rescue  of  the 
infamous  cause. 


ORIGIN  OF  SPECIES.  105 

No ;  it  is  a  brilliant  conjecture,  but  it  is  not  true. 
Scientists  babble  when  they  count  out  God.  They 
seek  in  vain  to  explain  either  the  origin  or  the  order- 
ing of  the  universe,  without  him.  In  their  folly,  they 
have  endeavored,  time  and  again,  to  eliminate  faith 
from  the  world,  and  dethrone  the  Infinite  from  the 
universe  he  had  built  for  himself;  but  as  often,  they 
have  lost  their  way,  and  "become  confused  and  con- 
fusing. Great  and  grand,  almost  divine  as  religion 
itself,  when  it  is  content  to  interpret  him,  their  science 
staggers  and  stammers  the  pitiable  jargon  of  gibber- 
ing idiocy  itself,  when  it  attempts  to  supplant  him. 

The  granite  facts  stand  brawn  and  bold,  when  the 
silly  dream  and  sillier  dreamer  come,  and  vanish  away. 
Each  dead  and  living  thing,  from  mite  to  archangel 
and  from  atom  to  sun,  lifts  up  its  voice  against  the 
folly  and  the  wrong;  and  ever,  louder  and  louder 
still,  from  all  worlds  and  all  orders  of  life,  comes  the 
resounding  confession,  "  The  Hand  that  made  us  is 
divine." 

The  forces,  which  play  so  conspicuous  a  part  in 
naturalism,  by  which  all  phenomena  of  change  are 
accounted  for,  which  build  worlds  and  round  dew- 
drops,  and,  more  mysteriously  still,  form  the  facets  of 
minutest  crystals  and  the  tissues  of  all  life, — the  forces 
themselves  declare  that  they  are  not  many,  but  one ; 
not  perishable,  but  permanent ;  not  material,  but  tran- 
scendental ;  not  necessary,  but  spontaneous  ;  that  their 
home  is  the  bosom  of  the  Eternal  Will-factor,  who 
speaks,  and  it  is  done ;  who  commands,  and  the  foun- 
dations of  the  universe  stand  fast   forever ;    out   of 

whom    there    is   nothing,   and    by   whom    all    things 

10 


106  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

consist;  of  whose  invisible  and  intangible  substance 
the  whole  frame  of  the  material  cosmos  is  but  pro- 
jected shadow  ;  who  only  has  being  in  himself,  and 
in  whose  will  alone  all  else  that  is  has  root  and  hold 
of  existence ;  who,  if  the  thought  of  his  non-existence 
could  become  reality  but  for  a  moment,  would  carry 
down  with  him,  in  his  fall,  the  universe  itself,  and 
leave  but  the  dark  and  dreary  pall  of  utter  nothing 
over  all  the  regions  where  suns  flame  and  angels  utter 
forth  their  ecstasies  ;  and  in  whom,  because  he  is,  from 
eternity  to  eternity,  unchangeable — a  God  of  infinite 
love  and  power — we  may  rejoice  for  evermore ;  to 
whom  be  glory  and  majesty  and  dominion,  as  it  was 
in  the  beginning,  is  now,  and  ever  shall  be,  world 
without  end  !* 

*  The  isms  exposed  in  these  brief  lectures  are  already  receding, 
and,  from  having  alarmed,  even  now  only  amuse ;  but  to  any  one  who 
may  be  curious  to  see  how  they  unfolded,  with  pomp  of  promise,  and 
how  they  withered  in  a  day,  we  would  suggest  the  careful  perusal  of 
such  books  as  "Vestiges  of  Creation,"  Darwin's  several  treatises, 
Huxley's,  Argyle,  Mivart,  Stebbing,  Wallace,  Mill,  Spencer,  Figuier, 
and  Tyndall.  Lubbock,  Lesley,  and  Biichner  will  not  pay  for  the 
reading.  These  authors  comprise  the  ablest,  on  both  sides,  and  will 
richly  repay  the  study.  They  exhaust  the  subject,  and,  to  a  candid 
reader,  will  not  fail  to  suggest  profitable  lines  of  reflection ;  and,  I  am 
persuaded,  will  not  fail  to  produce  the  conviction  that  human  research 
furnishes  neither  the  refutal  of,  nor  substitutes  for,  the  simple  state- 
ment of  revelation. 


Lecture  IV. 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-THEISM 


THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    SCIENCE, 


REV.   ASA    MAHAN,    D.  D., 

President  of  Adrian  College, 

Adrian,  Michigan. 


Lecture  iv. 
theism  and  anti-theism  in  their 

RELATIONS  TO   SCIENCE. 

THE  Claim  set  up. — All  are  aware  that  anti- 
theists,  in  all  ages,  the  present  and  the  past, 
have  claimed  for  themselves  an  exclusive  abode  in 
the  high  realm  of  pure  science,  and  have  represented 
religionists  of  all  schools  as  having  their  dwelling- 
place  in  the  lower  sphere  of  superstition  and  cred- 
ulity. "  Religion,"  says  Mr.  Emerson,  "  is  a  system 
which  the  people  passively  receive  from  the  priest." 
"The  Churches,"  he  accordingly  assures  us,  "are  in 
the  service  of  the  devil ;"  while  "  vice  and  crime  are 
normal  states  of  human  nature."  In  the  great  anti- 
theistic  work  of  the  age  it  is  affirmed,  that  when  the 
mind  ascends  to  the  realm  of  pure  science,  religious 
ideas  and  sentiments  will  forever  drop  out  from  the 
sphere  of  human  thought  and  regard.  The  teachings 
of  leading  thinkers  in  the  service  of  skeptical  thought 
are  set  forth,  by  themselves  and  their  disciples,  as 
immutable  truths  of  science.  Science,  they  claim/is 
"all  their  own."  As  introductory  to  the  argument 
which  we  design  to  present,  we  will  stop  right  here, 
and  inquire  into  the  validity  of  these  high  claims. 

109 


110  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

Facts  as  they  are. — We  here  announce,  as  an  unde- 
niable and  undenied  historic  verity,  that,  without 
exception,  all  thinkers  of  past  ages,  who  have,  in  the 
united  judgment  of  mankind,  vindicated  for  them- 
selves permanent  places  as  fixed  stars  in  the  firma- 
ment of  science,  have  been  openly  avowed  and 
uncompromising  theists  ;  while  the  most  eminent  of 
ail  anti-theistic  thinkers  are  known  and  designated, 
not  as  sages  or  philosophers,  but  exclusively  as 
sophists.  Just  as  soon,  also,  as  the  most  eminent 
unbelievers  and  skeptics  of  modern  times  drop  into 
a  past  age,  they,  too,  in  the  judgment  of  mankind, 
fall  from  the  firmament  of  science,  lose  forever  the 
designation  of  philosopher  and  sage,  and  descend  to 
the  low  sphere  occupied  by  ancient  sophists.  Where, 
for  example,  in  human  regard,  are  now  the  great 
thinkers  of  France,  who  laid  the  foundation  of 
modern  material  atheism?  Not  one  of  them  is,  by 
any  class  of  men,  believers  or  unbelievers,  thought  or 
spoken  of  as  a  philosopher,  and  hardly  as  a  sophist. 
They  are  simply  known  as  a  class  of  bewildered 
thinkers,  who  reared  up  proud  and  imposing  systems 
upon  "airy  nothing."  A  similar  verdict  has,  in  fact, 
been  passed  by  the  German  mind  upon  the  founders 
of  the  various  systems  of  modern  rationalism.  A 
few  years  ago,  those  systems  were  the  great  theme 
of  thought  and  study  throughout  that  country.  Now, 
among  the  tens  of  thousands  who  crowd  those  great 
universities,  no  lecturer,  whose  object  is  to  expound 
and  verify  the  system  of  Kant,  Fichte,  Schelling, 
or  Hegel,  can  command  a  class  of  twenty  hearers. 
These  men,  who  were  once  regarded  as  central  suns 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-THEISM.  1 1 1 

in  the  firmament  of  science,  have  already  practically- 
taken  rank  among  the  sophists  of  old.  Long  before 
the  year  1900  shall  roll  round,  will  the  great  unbe- 
lievers of  the  present  era — unbelievers  such  as  Parker, 
Emerson,  Mill,  Spencer,  and  Huxley — be  known  only 
as  the  bewildered  sophists  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Science  and  Sophistry  distinguished. — A  clear  ex- 
position of  the  real  distinction  between  science  and 
sophistry,  will  evince  the  strict  justice  of  the  dis- 
crimination which  mankind  ever  have  made,  and 
ever  must  make,  between  the  two  classes  of  thinkers 
under  consideration.  Science  is  knowledge  system- 
atized. Into  a  scientific  process,  nothing  but  what  is 
absolutely  known  can  enter.  Any  opinions,  beliefs, 
instinctive  or  otherwise,  any  conjectures  or  assump- 
tions introduced  into  a  scientific  process,  would 
utterly  vitiate  the  whole  procedure.  Science  has  to 
do  with  principles  known  to  be  necessarily  true,  with 
facts  known  with  equal  absoluteness  to  be  real,  and 
with  such  deductions  only  as  are  necessarily  implied 
by  such  principles  and  facts.  Here,  and  here  only, 
do  we  have  real  science.  Whatever  else,  outside  of 
this,  is  given  forth  as  scientific  truth,  is  sophistry, 
having  no  other  foundation  than  mere  opinion,  belief, 
conjecture,  or  assumption.  Sophistry,  you  will  bear 
in  mind,  is  a  plausible  show  of  reasoning,  in  which 
deductions  having  no  other  basis  than  such  opinions, 
beliefs,  assumptions,  or  a  partial  induction  of  facts,  are 
imposed  upon  the  public  mind  as  truths  of  science. 

Knowledge  and  Opinions,  Beliefs  and  Assumptions, 
distinguished. — Here  a  question  of  fundamental  im- 
portance arises,  to  wit :   What  is  the  real  distinction 


112  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

between  knowledge  on  the  one  hand,  and  opinions, 
assumptions,  and  beliefs  on  the  other  ?  Opinions,  be- 
liefs, etc.,  we  answer,  may  and  do  change,  and  vary 
their  character.  An  individual  may  hold  one  opinion 
on  a  given  subject  at  one  time,  and  the  opposite  at 
another.  Science  may  forever  displace  from  the 
sphere  of  thought  and  belief  an  opinion  which  was 
once  universally  held  as  valid.  Real  knowledge,  on 
the  other  hand,  never  changes.  When  you  know  an 
object,  your  apprehension  of  it,  just  so  far  as  you  do 
know  it,  becomes  permanently  fixed.  Any  change 
would  imply,  enlargement  excepted,  that  the  object 
was  not  known. 

Matter  and  Spirit  Known  Substances. — The  ques- 
tion of  questions  arises  here.  When  we  reason  from 
the  apprehended  facts  of  matter  and  mind  to  the 
ultimate  cause  of  these  facts,  are  we  reasoning  from 
mere  opinions,  assumptions,  or  beliefs,  which  happen 
to  be  universal  in  the  mind,  or  are  our  deductions 
based  upon  real  knowledge  ?  All  admit  that  if  our  de- 
ductions are  based  upon  real  knowlege,  then  we  have 
demonstrative  proof  of  the  doctrine  of  God.  Anti- 
theism  affirms  that  these  deductions  are  not  based 
upon  real  knowledge,  but  upon  mere  opinions,  assump- 
tions, beliefs,  which  happen  to  be  universal,  and  are, 
therefore,  void  of  validity.  We  are  now  prepared  for 
a  final  determination  of  this  question.  It  will  be  uni- 
versally admitted  that,  in  all  minds  in  common,  there 
exists  one  and  the  same  apprehension  of  mind  on 
the  one  hand,  and  of  matter  on  the  other.  Mind, 
as  apprehended  by  the  universal  consciousness,  is  a 
power  possessed  of,  and  exercising  the  functions  of, 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-THEISM.  113 

thought,  feeling,  and  willing.  Matter,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  given  with  the  same  distinctness  and  abso- 
luteness as  an  exterior  substance,  possessed  of  the 
fixed  and  essential  qualities,  among  others,  of  exten- 
sion and  form.  Now,  our  apprehension  of  these  sub- 
stances can  no  more  be  changed  or  modified  than  can 
our  ideas  of  a  circle  or  a  square.  We  may  question 
or  deny  the  reality  of  either  or  both  of  these  sub- 
stances, or  the  validity  of  our  knowledge  of  the 
same ;  yet  they  are,  to  our  apprehensions,  the  same 
identical  substances  that  they  were  before,  and  are 
known  with  the  same  absoluteness  that  we  know  a 
circle  or  a  square. 

Here,  then,  we  find  ourselves  standing  in  the. 
presence  of  real  knowledge ;  or  knowledge  in  no 
form  has  a  dwelling-place  in  the  mind.  Do  you  ask 
how  we  became  possessed  of  this  knowledge  ?  The 
answer  is  this  :  When  the  proper  conditions  are  ful- 
filled, we  have  a  direct  and  immediate  perception  or 
knowledge  of  the  fundamental  qualities  of  each  of 
those  substances.  To  deny  the  validity  of  such 
knowledge,  is  simply  to  affirm  the  universal  intelli- 
gence to  be  a  lie.  In  reasoning,  then,  from  the  great 
leading  facts  of  mind  and  matter  to  their  ultimate 
cause,  we  are  not  reasoning  from  mere  opinions, 
assumptions,  or  beliefs,  but  from  absolute  knowledge, 
facts  absolutely  known,  to  what  is  implied  by  the 
same. 

Grounds  of  the  Distinction  ultimately  made  by  all 

Men  between    Theistic  and  Anti-Theistic  Thinkers. — 

Such  is  science  on  the  one  hand,  and  sophistry  on 

the  other.     The  reason  why  the  great  theistic  thinkers 

11 


114  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

of  past  ages  do  and  ever  will  occupy  their  places 
as  fixed  stars  in  the  firmament  of  science  ;  and  why 
all  unbelievers  and  skeptics  do  and  must,  in  the  just 
judgment  of  the  race,  take  rank  as  sophists,  now 
becomes  perfectly  obvious.  Thinkers  of  the  former 
class  base  all  their  deductions  upon  principles  and 
facts,  which  are  given  in  the  universal  intelligence  as 
absolutely  known  verities.  Whatever  is  thus  given, 
they  accept  and  reason  upon  as  real,  and  as  being  in 
itself  just  what  the  intelligence  shows  it  as  being. 
They  never  perpetrate  the  absurdity  of  assuming  that 
the  intelligence,  by  one  procedure,  can  know  an 
object  as  a  fixed  reality,  possessed  of  certain  immuta- 
bly essential  qualities — extension  and  form,  for  exam- 
ple— and  then,  by  another  procedure,  know  that  same 
object  as  a  mere  shadowy  appearance,  and  no  reality 
at  all.  All  their  deductions  are  strictly  within  the 
sphere  of  the  knowable  and  known.  Hence,  said 
deductions  legitimately  take  rank  as  truths  of  sci- 
ence, and  the  great  thinkers  who  reason  thus  will 
ever,  in  the  judgment  of  mankind,  retain  their  places 
as  fixed  stars  in  the  firmament  of  science.  It  was  on 
the  authority  of  principles  and  facts  thus  known, 
that  La  Place  affirmed  that  the  evidence  stood  as 
infinity  to  unity,  in  favor  of  the  being  and  creative 
agency  of  a  personal  God,  as  opposed  to  any  other 
hypothesis  of  ultimate  causation.  It  was  on  the 
same  authority  that  Cicero  affirmed  that  the  idea 
was  infinitely  more  reasonable  that  the  throwing 
down  at  random,  on  a  piece  of  parchment,  of  a  mass 
of  writing  instruments,  would  be  the  production  of 
such  a  poem  as   Homer's  Iliad,  than   that  creation, 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-THEISM.  115 

as  now  constituted,  was  originated  by  any  other  cause 
than  that  referred  to. 

Wherein,  then,  lies  the  sophistry  of  anti-theistic 
thinkers,  of  all  schools  ?  It  lies  here :  All  their  sys- 
tems are  based  upon  a  denial  of  the  validity  of  what 
is  given  in  the  universal  consciousness  as  absolute 
knozvledge.  Anti-theism  now  takes  on,  and  ever  has 
taken  on,  one  of  three  forms — materialism,  idealism, 
or  skepticism.  Materialism  affirms  the  validity  of  our 
knowledge  of  matter,  and  denies  that  of  mind ;  ideal- 
ism affirms  the  validity  of  our  knowledge  of  mind,  or 
its  operations,  and  denies  that  of  matter,  and  all  this 
while  our  knowledge  of  each  is  given  in  the  universal 
consciousness  as  equally  absolute.  Both  systems  rest 
upon  the  common  assumption,  an  assumption  for  the 
validity  of  which  no  reasons  whatever  can  be  assigned, 
that  what  is  given  in  the  universal  consciousness  as 
absolute  knowledge  is  no  real  knowledge  at  all. 
Skepticism  denies  absolutely  the  validity  of  our 
knowledge  of  both  these  substances  in  common,  and 
thus  bases  its  claims  wholly  upon  a  universal  impeach- 
ment of  the  intelligence  as  a  faculty  of  knowledge. 

Take  another  view  of  this  subject.  In  every  act 
of  external  perception,  two  factors  are  always  given — 
the  subject  and  the  object,  mind  and  matter;  the  sub- 
ject as  endowed  with  the  powers  of  thought,  feeling, 
and  willing,  and  the  object  as  possessed  of  the  fixed 
and  immutable  qualities,  among  others,  of  extension 
and  form.  No  affirmations  of  the  intelligence  are,  or 
can  be,  more  absolute  than  the  distinction  under  con- 
sideration. Now,  while  the  intelligence  never  does, 
and  never  can,  confound  these  two  substances,  the  one 


1 1 6  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

with  the  other,  materialism,  in  resolving  all  substances 
into  matter,  confounds  the  subject  with  the  object; 
while  idealism,  in  resolving  realities  into  mind,  con- 
founds the  object  with  the  subject.  Thus,  these  two 
systems  rest  upon  one  common  assumption,  to  wit : 
that,  in  the  language  of  Sir  William  Hamilton,  the 
universal  "consciousness  is  a  liar  from  the  begin- 
ning." Skepticism,  basing  its  claims  upon  a  denial 
of  the  validity  of  what  is  given  in  the  universal  con- 
sciousness as  absolute  knowledge,  must  stand  or  fall 
upon  the  assumption  that  the  universal  intelligence  is 
itself  a  lie.  Here,  undeniably,  is  all  the  science  that 
can  be  found  in  the  sphere  of  anti-theistic  thought ; 
and  here,  as  undeniably,  sophistry  reaches  its  con- 
summation. 

Suppose,  now,  that  an  advocate  of  one  of  these 
theories  attempts  to  convince  you  that  your  knowl- 
edge of  one  or  both  of  these  substances  is  invalid. 
On  what  conditions  can  he  escape  the  just  charge  of 
acting  the  sophist  ?  On  this  only,  that  he  makes  it 
more  manifest  to  your  mind  that  his  reasoning  has 
absolute  validity,  than  is  the  fact  that  you  yourself 
exist,  as  possessed  of  the  powers  of  thought,  feeling, 
and  willing,  and  that  matter  is  before  you,  as  pos- 
sessed of  the  qualities  of  extension  and  form.  This 
no  anti-theist  professes  to  be  able  to  accomplish. 
Kant,  for  example,  affirms,  and  all  anti-theists  agree 
with  him,  that  no  form  of  reasoning,  no  deductions  of 
science,  can  displace  from  the  human  intelligence  the 
conviction  of  the  absolute  validity  of  our  knowledge 
of  nature.  This  is  an  open  acknowledgment  that  he, 
and  all  other  anti-theists,  are  doing  nothing  but  acting 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-THEISM.  W] 

the  sophist  in  all  their  attempts  to  subvert  that  con- 
viction. 

The  reasoning  of  the  anti-theist  to  induce  the 
results  he  desires,  may  have  the  appearance  of  con- 
clusiveness ;  yet  if  his  deductions  are  not  more  man- 
ifestly absolute  than  is  the  knowledge  referred  to,  his 
argument  must,  upon  scientific  grounds,  be  regarded 
as  nothing  but  sophistry.  I  once,  for  example,  saw  a 
mother  very  much  perplex  her  little  child  with  this 
form  of  sophistry :  Every  creature  which  has  two  feet 
is  a  biped.  You  are  a  biped.  A  goose  is  a  biped  ; 
therefore,  you  are  a  goose.  The  child  was  perplexed ; 
yet  it  absolutely  knew  that  it  was  not  a  goose.  Sup- 
pose it  had  replied  thus :  Your  argument  appears 
valid,  and  I  can  't  meet  it ;  yet  I  know  that  I  am  not 
the  animal  referred  to.  I,  therefore,  conclude,  not  that 
I  am  a  goose,  but  that  you  are  acting  the  sophist. 
The  reply  would  have  entirely  accorded  with  the 
principles  of  perfect  science.  So,  when  individuals 
attempt  to  convince  you  that  your  knowledge  of  the 
great  leading  facts  of  matter  or  mind,  or  of  both  in 
common,  is  invalid,  your  proper  reply  is  this :  Your 
reasoning  is  quite  plausible.  It  utterly  fails,  however, 
to  induce  that  absolute  assurance  that  I  have,  that  I, 
myself,  exist  as  endowed  with  the  powers  of  thought, 
feeling,  and  willing,  and  that  matter  is  before  me  as 
possessed  of  the  qualities  of  extension  and  form.  I 
conclude,  therefore,  that  you  are  acting  the  sophist 
with  me ;  and  I  know  well  that  I  should  make  a  goose 
of  myself  if  I  should  judge  otherwise.  Science  af- 
firms absolutely  the  validity  of  such  a  reply.  The 
sophistry  of  the  anti-theist,  in  all  such  cases,  is  per- 


Il8  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

fectly  obvious.  On  the  authority  of  deductions  which 
have  nothing  but  assumptions  for  their  validity,  he 
professedly  invalidates  that  of  original,  immediate,  and 
absolute  knowledge. 

Reason  why  Anti-Theists  regard  each  other  as  Soph- 
ists.— The  reason  why  every  anti-theist  is  to  every 
other,  as  well  as  to  the  rest  of  mankind,  a  sophist,  and 
especially  why  each  class  of  anti-theists  is  to  every 
other  a  mass  of  unqualified  sophists,  now  becomes 
perfectly  obvious.  Each  anti-theist  bases  his  theory 
upon  a  denial  of  the  validity  of  what  every  individual 
of  the  race,  whatever  his  views  may  be,  does  and 
must  distinctly  recognize  as  absolute  knowledge.  For 
this  reason,  while  any  two  individuals  may  perfectly 
harmonize  in  their  skeptical  views,  each  does  and 
must  intuitively  recognize  the  other  as  a  sophist.  In 
Germany,  for  example,  unbelievers  all  take  rank  in 
different  schools,  and  each  school  is  charged  by  all 
the  others  with  teaching  nothing  but  sophistry  ;  each 
school,  with  every  other,  laying  down  absolute  ignor- 
ance of  all  realities  as  the  basis  of  a  scientific  exposi- 
tion of  the  unknown  and  unknowable  secrets  of  uni- 
versal existence  and  its  laws.  The  light  in  which  each 
French  skeptic  regards  every  other,  is  thus  very  im- 
pressively set  forth  by  Rousseau:  "I  have  consulted 
our  philosophers,  I  have  perused  their  books,  I  have 
examined  their  several  opinions.  I  have  found  them 
all  proud  and  dogmatizing,  even  in  their  pretended 
skepticism ;  knowing  every  thing,  proving  nothing, 
and  ridiculing  one  another.  If  you  consider  their 
number,  each  one  is  reduced  to  himself;  they  never 
unite  but  to  dispute."  Upwards  of  two  years  since,  a 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-THEISM.  1 1 9 

national,  or  world's,  convention  of  unbelievers  was 
held  in  Boston.  Each  member  was  permitted  a  free 
utterance  of  his  own  views.  Every  speech  was  taken 
down  at  the  time,  and  afterwards  published.  The 
character  of  the  utterances  of  that  confused  assem- 
blage is  perfectly  represented  in  the  picture  given 
above.  Each  speaker  was  literally  "  reduced  to  him- 
self," uttered  little,  or  nothing,  but  what  was  regarded 
as  the  consummation  of  sophistry  by  the  rest  of  the 
assembly.  The  only  form  of  unity  that  has  been 
claimed,  even  by  skeptics,  for  the  convention,  is  that 
of  perfect  toleration.  The  convention,  as  all  such 
assemblages  must  do,  presents  to  the  world  the  most 
impressive  and  edifying  spectacle  of  Chaos  and  Old 
Night  dwelling  with  great  quietness  and  full  fellow- 
ship with  Anarchy.  Nor  is  any  other  form  of  unity 
possible  among  this  class  of  scientists,  starting,  as 
they  do,  with  the  assertion  of  absolute  ignorance  of 
all  realities,  and  then  attempting  a  scientific  elucida- 
tion of  the  secrets  of  the  world,  nature,  and  its  laws. 
To  attain  to  concurrent  thought  in  such  circumstances, 
is  as  impossible  as  it  would  be  for  a  thousand  blind 
men  to  start  from  a  given  point,  and  then  walk  a 
thousand  miles  on  the  same  straight  line. 

The  Basis  Principle  of  Anti-Theism  renders  Sci- 
entific Thought  Impossible. — If  we  recur  to  the  princi- 
ple that  lies  at  the  foundation  of  modern  skepticism, 
we  shall  perceive  at  once  the  utter  sophistry  of  all 
the  professed  scientific  teaching  of  this  class  of 
thinkers.  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  for  example,  the 
great  leader  of  the  sect,  after  affirming  that  all  objects 
of  thought  and  perception  in  the  universe  are  mere 


120  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

shadowy  appearances,  and  no  realities  at  all,  adds 
that  "the  reality  existing  behind  all  appearance  is, 
and  ever  must  be,  unknown."  This  principle  lies  at 
the  foundation  of  ancient  anti-theism.  The  wisest 
among  their  thinkers,  as  Milton  says,  "professed  to 
know  this  only,  that  they  nothing  knew."  The  same 
holds  true  of  modern  anti-theism.  No  objects  of 
thought  or  perception  in  the  universe,  says  Kant,  "are' 
that  in  themselves  for  which  we  take  them.  Neither  are 
their  relationships  so  constituted  as  they  appear  to  us." 
Again,  he  adds,  "We  know  nothing  of  these  objects 
but  our  manner  of  perceiving  them,  which  is  peculiar 
to  us,  and  may  not  be  the  same  in  any  other  class  of 
beings."  Here,  as  we  perceive,  absolute  ignorance  is 
affirmed  of  all  realities  of  every  kind,  realities  material 
and  mental,  finite  and  infinite;  and  here  we  should 
suppose  that  the  mission  of  science  is  ended.  How 
can  we  reason  but  from  what  we  know  ?  Anti-theists, 
on  the  other  hand,  make  this  infinite  and  acknowl- 
edged ignorance  the  basis  of  a  scientific  exposition  of 
the  secrets  of  universal  existence  and  its  laws.  Mr. 
Spencer,  for  example,  on  account  of  his  science  of  the 
unknowable  and  unknown,  has  been  called  by  his  dis- 
ciples the  Sir  Isaac  Newton  of  this  age. 

I  here  affirm,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that 
not  a  proposition  or  deduction  can  be  found  in  Kant's 
"  Critic  of  Pure  Reason,"  or  in  the  multitudinous  phi- 
losophical works  of  Herbert  Spencer,  that  does  not 
bear  upon  its  face  the  clearest  indications  of  gross 
sophistry.  When  you  have  affirmed  absolute  ignor- 
ance of  any  object,  you  have  undeniably  placed  that 
object  wholly  out  of  the  sphere  of  true  science.     This 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-  THEISM.  1 2 1 

is  just  what  these  authors  have  done  in  respect  to  all 
realities  of  every  kind.  Any  propositions  or  deduc- 
tions, consequently,  which  they  may  put  forth  in  respect 
to  such  objects,  and  put  forth  especially  as  truths  of 
science,  can  have,  no  other  foundation  than  mere  base- 
less conjectures  and  assumptions,  for  the  validity  of 
which  no  reasons  whatever  can  be  assigned.  Kant, 
for  example,  after  affirming  an  absolute  ignorance  of 
mind,  professedly  determines,  from  a  stand-point 
purely  scientific,  the  number  and  character  of  the 
mental  faculties,  and  the  precise  laws  which  govern 
their  activities.  If  he  knows  nothing,  as  he  affirms 
he  does,  of  the  mind  itself,  what  can  he  know  of  its 
faculties?  Mr.  Spencer,  after  affirming  an  absolute 
ignorance  of  all  realities,  mental  and  physical,  finite 
and  infinite,  professedly  gives  us  the  science  of  univer- 
sal existence  and  its  laws.  I  slander  no  one  when  I 
affirm  that  such  thinkers,  with  the  entire  school  to 
which  they  belong,  deserve  no  higher  regard  from  the 
race  than  philosophical  jugglers,  with  this  difference, 
that  the  common  juggler  informs  his  audience  of  the 
deceptions  he  perpetrates  upon  them,  while  these 
authors  deceptively  impose  upon  the  public  their 
mere  opinions,  conjectures,  and  assumptions  as  de- 
ductions of  science. 

The  Character  of  the  two  Systems  directly  con- 
sidered.— A  direct  consideration  of  the  intrinsic  char- 
acter of  these  two  systems  will  still  more  clearly 
evince  their  distinct  and  opposite  relations  to  science. 
Both  systems,  in  all  their  forms,  agree  absolutely  in 
this,  that  there  is  some  o?ie  ultimate  reason  why  the 
facts  of  the  universe  are  as  they  are,  and  not  other- 


122  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

wise.  When  we  inquire  after  the  nature  of  this  ulti- 
mate reason,  or  first  cause,  all  agree,  also,  that  it  must 
be  either  an  eternally  inhering  law  of  nature  itself,  or 
a  cause  out  of  and  above  nature — a  cause  acting  upon, 
organizing,  and  controlling  nature,  in  accordance  with 
the  law  of  intelligent  foresight  and  design.  In  other 
words,  all  thinkers  of  all  schools  agree  that  there  are 
but  two  conceivable  hypotheses  of  ultimate  causation — 
that  of  natural  law  or  that  of  theism  ;  and  that  one,  to 
the  exclusion  of  the  other  of  these,  must  be  true. 
Let  us,  for  a  few  moments,  turn  our  thoughts  to  a 
consideration  of  each  of  these  distinct  and  opposite 
hypotheses. 

The  Hypothesis  of  Nattiral  Law. — Upon  the  hy- 
pothesis of  natural  law  we  have  three  very  concise, 
but  fundamentally  important,  remarks  to  make  : 

1.  This  dogma  has  no  claims  whatever  to  our 
regard  as  an  intuitive  truth.  If  true,  its  truth  is,  un- 
deniably, not  self-evident.  Nor  do  its  advocates  set 
up  any  such  claims  in  its  behalf. 

2.  Nor  can  any  form  or  degree  of  valid  proof, 
positive  evidence,  or  antecedent  probability,  be  ad- 
duced in  its  favor.  The  reason  is  obvious  and  unde- 
niable :  no  fact  can,  by  any  possibility,  be  adduced  in 
favor  of  this  hypothesis,  which  is  not  equally  expli- 
cable on  the  opposite  hypothesis.  Whatever  is  com- 
patible with  the  action  of  an  inhering  law  of  nature 
as  its  ultimate  cause,  is  undeniably  equally  compat- 
ible with  the  action  of  a  cause  out  of  and  above  na- 
ture. Hence,  the  deduction  becomes  demonstrably 
evident,  that  there  can  be  adduced  from  the  universe 
of  matter  or  spirit  no  fact  from  which  the  remotest 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-  THEISM.  1 2  3 

degree  of  valid  proof,  positive  evidence,  or  antecedent 
probability,  can  be  drawn  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of 
natural  law,  as  opposed  to  the  hypothesis  of  theism. 

3.  No  individual  can  hold  the  dogma  of  natural 
law  as  a  positive  truth  without  thereby  violating  the 
immutable  demands  of  science  on  the  one  hand,  and 
involving  himself  in  the  just  charge  of  the  grossest 
credulity  on  the  other.  Science  absolutely  prohibits 
the  holding  of  positive  opinions  not  based  upon  valid 
evidence.  The  individual  who  holds  the  dogma  under 
consideration  as  true,  holds  an  opinion  in  favor  of  which 
no  real  evidence  or  antecedent  probability  of  any  kind 
can  be  adduced.  No  greater  violation  of  the  immuta- 
ble demands  of  science  is,  therefore,  possible.  To 
hold  such  an  opinion  is,  also,  credulity  in  its  grossest 
form.  To  attempt  to  impose  such  an  opinion  upon 
the  public  as  a  truth  of  science,  is  moral  criminality 
of  the  most  flagrant  character. 

Theistic  Hypothesis. — On  the  theistic  hypothesis 
we  have,  also,  three  concise  and  fundamentally  im- 
portant considerations  to  present — considerations  to 
which  very  special  attention  is  invited : 

1.  This  hypothesis  can,  by  no  possibility,  be  dis- 
proved ;  nor  can  the  least  degree  of  positive  evidence 
or  antecedent  probability  be  adduced  against  it.  For 
the  same  reason  that  the  opposite  hypothesis  can  not 
be  proved  true,  this  can  not  be  disproved.  For  the 
same  reason  that  no  positive  evidence  or  antecedent 
probability  can  be  adduced  in  favor  of  the  former, 
none  can  be  adduced  against  the  latter. 

2.  The  validity  of  this  hypothesis  accords  with  the 
intuitive  convictions  of  the  race.     Not  a  single  tribe 


124  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

or  branch  of  the  human  race  exists,  who  are  void  of 
the  idea  of  creation  and  a  creator,  and  who  do  not  re- 
gard that  creator  as  a  self-conscious,  personal  God. 
We  have  here  a  form  of  positive  evidence  which  will 
command  the  belief  and  life  of  every  honest  disciple 
of  true  science.  When  two  hypotheses  are  before  us, 
one  of  which  must  be  true  and  the  other  false,  and 
when  no  form  or  degree  of  evidence  does  or  can  exist 
in  favor  of  one,  any  degree  of  real  evidence  in  favor  of 
the  other  binds  the  conscience.  The  issue  before  us 
is  one  of  this  kind.  No  evidence,  in  any  form,  ren- 
ders the  doctrine  of  natural  law  even  probably  true. 
The  facts  of  the  universe,  as  apprehended  by  the  uni- 
versal intelligence,  induces,  in  that  intelligence,  the 
absolute  intuitive  conviction  of  the  validity  of  the 
doctrine  of  theism.  Here  is  real  evidence  which 
can  not  be  doubtful,  and  which  every  honest  student 
of  science  will  heed. 

3.  On  definitely  assignable  conditions,  this  hy- 
pothesis may  be  rendered  a  demonstrated  truth  of 
science,  and  the  opposite  one  a  demonstrated  error. 
If  there  can  be  adduced,  for  example,  from  the  wide 
domain  of  universal  nature,  a  single  real  fact  which 
can  not  be  accounted  for  by  a  reference  to  natural  law, 
that  fact  renders  demonstrably  evident  the  absolute 
validity  of  the  theistic  hypothesis.  Whatever  can  not 
be  accounted  for  by  reference  to  any  inhering  law  of 
nature,  must  be  referred  to  a  cause  out  of  and  above 
nature.     This  is  undeniably  self-evident. 

Theistic  Facts  and  Deductions. — Now,  there  are  a 
multitude  of  facts  in  the  universe  of  matter  and 
spirit — facts   of   this    identical    character.      We    will 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-THEISM.  12$ 

make  a  bare  reference  to  two  of  them.  If  we  will 
heed  the  intuitive  convictions  of  the  race,  or  the  ma- 
turest  and  most  absolute  deductions  of  science,  we 
shall  admit  and  affirm  the  fact  of  creation  as  an  eveiit 
of  time.  So  absolute  are  the  teachings  of  science, 
geological  and  astronomical,  for  example,  upon  this 
subject,  that  no  respectable  anti-theist  questions  the 
fact  that  the  order  of  events  in  nature  had  a  begin- 
ning. The  fixed  law  of  progress,  in  nature,  from  the 
less  perfect  in  the  direction  of  the  absolutely  perfect, 
evinces,  undeniably,  the  same  great  fact.  Progression 
in  this  or  any  other  direction,  by  natural  law,  must 
have  been  from  eternity,  in  which  case  the  perfect 
would  have  been  reached  untold  ages  since.  The 
perfect,  however,  has  not  yet  been  reached.  We  are, 
on  the  other  hand,  much  nearer  the  beginning  than 
the  end. 

Progression  in  nature,  then,  had  a  beginnng  in 
time,  and  is  not  by  natural  law.  There  is  no  escap- 
ing this  conclusion.  When  we  admit,  as  we  must 
do,  the  fact  of  creation  as  an  event  of  time,  we  are 
absolutely  necessitated  to  adopt  the  immutable  deduc- 
tion of  a  creator  out  of,  and  above,  nature.  A  law  of 
order  inhering  in  nature,  and  acting  potentially  as  the 
ultimate  cause  of  the  order  therein  existing,  must, 
from  the  nature  of  the  case,  have  existed  and  acted 
from  eternity,  or  not  at  all.  Facts  of  order  thence 
resulting,  must  have  been  from  eternity,  and  not 
events  of  time.  No  deduction  has,  or  can  have,  more 
absolute  validity  than  this.  But  the  facts  of  order  in 
nature  are  not  from  eternity,  but  are,  undeniably, 
events  of  time.     The  ultimate  cause  of  that  order, 


126  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

therefore,  is  the  agency  of  a  free,  self-conscious,  per- 
sonal God.* 

If  we  adopt,  as  our  next  stand-point,  the  state  of 
the  earth,  as  it  must  have  been  at  the  subsidence  of 
the  glacial  flood,  we  shall  be  conducted,  by  logical  ne- 
cessity, to  the  same  absolute  conclusion.  During  the 
continuance  of  that  flood,  such  a  degree  of  universal 
coldness  was  induced,  as  of  necessity,  in  the  language 
of  Professor  Agassiz,  "  to  put  an  end  to  all  living  be- 
ings upon  the  surface  of  the  globe."  The  earth  could 
have  been  re-peopled,  as  it  now  is,  but  from  one  of  two 
causes — origination  by  natural  law,  in  accordance  with 
the  principles  of  the  development  theory,  or  by  the 
direct  and  immediate  creative  agency  of  a  personal 
God.  The  former  hypothesis  can,  by  no  possibility, 
be  true  in  this  case,  there  having  been,  undeniably,  no 
time  for  such  originations.  This  theory,  as  the  same 
learned  professor  has  well  observed,  "  is  cut  by  the 
root  by  this  winter."  But  one  hypothesis  remains  for 
us,  and  that  doctrine  must  be  true — the  doctrine  of 
the  all-creative  agency  of  a  personal  God. 

Relations  of  these  two  Hypotheses  to  Setenee. — The 
relations   of   these    two   hypotheses    to    science   now 

*  In  the  annual  meeting  of  the  great  Scientific  Association,  of 
Germany,  held  about  one  year  since,  this  statement  was  made  by  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  scientists  of  Europe,  no  one  contradicting  him, 
to  wit :  That  all  the  valid  deductions  of  science  culminate  in  the  one 
great  central  truth  of  the  organization  of  the  universe  as  an  event  of  time. 
"  In  other  words,"  he  remarked,  "  we  have  a  real  creation,  and  there- 
fore a  creator."  He  then  added,  that  when  science  shall  have  reached 
its  full  maturity,  it  will  be  introductory  to  the  Christian  religion.  Even 
Mr.  Huxley  affirms,  as  an  undeniable  deduction  of  science,  that  the 
order  of  events  in  nature  had  a  beginning  in  time.  Yet,  with  strange 
fatuity,  he  would  have  us  believe,  not  in  a  creator,  but  in  creation  by 
natural  law,  than  which  no  absurdity  can  be  greater. 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-THEISM.  \2J 

become  perfectly  obvious.  At  the  basis  of  the  doctrine 
of  natural  law,  and  consequently  of  anti-theism  in  all 
its  forms,  there  lies,  as  we  have  seen,  not  a  solitary 
principle  (intuitive  or  deductive  truth)  known  to 
science.  In  its  favor  not  a  solitary  fact  can  be  ad- 
duced, a  fact  rendering  that  dogma  even  probably 
true.  Anti-theism,  therefore,  in  none  of  its  forms  or 
professed  deductions,  can  have  the  remotest  claims  to 
a  place  within  the  sphere  of  true  science  ;  and  all  pos- 
itive claims  set  up  in  its  behalf  are  positively  con- 
demned by  science.  At  the  basis  of  theism,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  have  necessary  intuitive  principles  of 
science,  and  adamantine  facts  which  science  does  and 
must  recognize  as  real  ;  while  the  deductions  of  this 
hypothesis  are  recognized  by  the  same  authority  as 
the  necessary  logical  consequences  of  those  principles 
and  facts.  Here,  then,  we  have  science ;  or  true 
science  has  no  being  within  the  domain  of  human 
thought. 

The  Boastful  Pretensions  of  Anti-theists. — We  are 
also  prepared  to  form  a  just  estimate  of  the  claim,  so 
boastfully  set  up  by  anti-theists  of  all  ages,  that  they 
only  occupy  the  high  sphere  of  true  science ;  while 
the  dwelling-place,  as  they  affirm,  of  all  who  believe 
in  an  infinite  and  perfect  personal  God,  is  the  dark 
region  of  superstition  and  credulity.  Does  it  not  ap- 
pear— permit  us  to  ask  here — does  it  not  appear  quite 
modest  in  such  thinkers  as  Emerson,  Mill,  Youmans, 
Lyell,  Spencer,  and  Comte,  to  deify  themselves  as 
great  central  suns  in  the  firmament  of  science,  and  to 
present  such  minds  as  Thales,  Socrates,  Plato,  Aris- 
totle,  Cicero,  the  Bacons,   Newton,   Locke,  and    La 


128  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

Place — all  uncompromising  theists — as  mere  rush- 
lights in  that  firmament,  blind  thinkers,  who  pass- 
ively received  their  conceptions  of  God  from  their 
priests  ?  We  read  of  a  Spaniard  who  never  pro- 
nounced his  own  name  without  reverentially  taking 
off  his  hat,  as  expressive  of  the  deep  veneration  he 
entertained  for  such  an  illustrious  personage  as  him- 
self. It  would  seem  that  these  anti-theists  must  have 
taken  lessons  in  the  school  of  self-adulation  of  some 
such  thinker  as  that.  But  what  is  the  real  ground  of 
this  self-boasting  ?  They  deriy  the  being  and  perfec- 
tions of  God,  a  truth  of  real  science,  a  truth  evinced 
as  such  by  proof  the  most  absolute.  They  hold  as  a 
truth  of  science  the  dogma  of  natural  law ;  a  dogma  in 
favor  of  which  no  form  or  degree  of  real  proof,  valid 
evidence,  or  antecedent  probability  can  be  adduced. 
This,  undeniably,  is  all  the  science  to  which  these 
thinkers  can  lay  any  just  claim.  If  absolute  disbelief 
in  the  presence  of  absolute  proof  is  presumption,  and 
absolute  belief  in  the  total  absence  of  all  evidence  is 
credulity,  the  presumption  and  credulity  of  these 
thinkers  must  be  infinite. 

Let  us  suppose  that  an  individual,  first  of  all,  af- 
firms an  absolute  and  hopeless  ignorance  of  the  mat- 
ter, the  productions  and  inhabitants  (if  any  exist),  of 
the  planet  Jupiter,  and  should  then  claim  that,  by  a 
process  of  pure  scientific  deduction,  he  has  fully  re- 
vealed the  geology  and  zoology  of  that  unknown  and 
unknowable  world.  Would  not  mankind  affirm,  with 
truth  and  propriety,  that  here  is  science  run  mad? 
Yet  this  is  precisely  what  has  been  done  by  anti- 
theists  of  all  ages,  and  especially  by  one  of  its  most 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-THEISM,  1 29 

illustrious  and  generally  accepted  modern  expounders, 
in  respect  to  the  whole  universe  of  matter  and  spirit. 
Mr.  Herbert  Spencer,  as  we  have  seen,  announces  this 
as  the  common  doctrine  of  all  anti-theistic  thinkers, 
from  Pythagoras. to  Kant,  and  as  embodying  the  fun- 
damental principle  of  all  true  science ;  that  all  our 
knowledge  of  every  kind  is  wholly  "phenomenal," 
mere  appearance,  in  which  no  reality,  as  it  is,  is  man- 
ifested, and  that  "the  reality  existing  behind  all  ap- 
pearances is,  and  must  ever  be,  unknown."  Here, 
then,  as  we  have  said  before,  the  validity  of  this  prin- 
ciple being  admitted,  the  mission  of  science  undeniably 
ends.  How  can  we  have  a  science  of  that  of  which 
our  ignorance  is  hopelessly  absolute  ?  Do  anti-theistic 
thinkers  stop  here  ?  By  no  means.  This  infinite 
ignorance  they  assume  as  the  certain  condition  and 
ground  of  a  scientific  insight  into  the  unknown  and 
unknowable  secrets  of  universal  existence  and  its  laws. 
The  individual  above  named,  for  example,  after  pro- 
fessedly demonstrating  the  fact  that  neither  the  earth, 
the  sun,  nor  the  stars  ;  that  neither  mind,  matter, 
time,  space,  nor  God ;  that  nothing  finite  or  infinite — 
is,  or  can  be,  in  itself,  the  reality  which  we  apprehend 
it  as  being ;  and  that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  know 
what  any  of  them  is, — this  same  individual,  after  assur- 
ing us,  as  a  deduction  of  science,  that  a  personal  God 
has,  and  can  have,  no  agency  in  nature,  goes  on  to  tell 
us,  on  the  authority  of  deductions  purely  scientific,  as 
he  affirms,  just  how  all  the  events  of  nature,  from  the 
eternity  past  to  the  eternity  to  come,  have  resulted, 
do  result,  and  will   result,  from  three  great  central 

causes  —  causes    of    which    he    affirms    an    absolute 

12 


I30  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

ignorance,  to  wit :  matter,  motion,  and  force — and  his 
expositions  are  accepted  by  anti-theists  as  the  only- 
true  science  of  nature  and  its  laws.  Unless  this  indi- 
vidual has  an  absolute  knowledge  of  all  the  facts  of 
nature — past,  present,  and  to  come — and  a  knowledge 
equally  absolute  of  the  entire  character  and  relations 
of  these  three  causes — and  he  affirms  an  absolute 
ignorance  of  them  all — he  does  not,  and  can  not, 
know,  that,  through  these  causes,  he  can  account  for 
all  these  events ;  nor,  indeed,  for  any  one  of  them. 
Unless  he  has  an  absolute  omniscience  of  all  realities 
that  have  being  in  infinite  space — and  he  avows  utter 
ignorance  of  every  one  of  them — he  does  not,  and  can 
not,  know,  that  the  words,  "  matter,  motion,  and  force," 
represent  at  all  every  cause,  or,  indeed,  the  chief 
cause,  that  operates  in  nature.  In  affirming,  as  he 
does,  an  absolute  and  hopeless  ignorance  of  all  real- 
ities of  every  kind,  what  reason  has  he  for  affirming 
or  denying  the  agency  of  a  personal  God  in  nature  ? 
In  the  name  of  science,  then,  we  ask,  have  we  not 
here  philosophy  run  mad  ?  Mr.  Spencer,  however,  in 
his  infinite  and  affirmed  ignorance  of  all  realities,  not 
only  professedly  discloses  to  us  the  secrets  of  universal 
nature  and  its  laws,  but  professedly  reveals  a  still 
higher  secret — that  of  life  itself.  Life,  he  tells  us,  is 
*  the  definite  combination  of  definite  heterogeneous 
changes,  both  simultaneous  and  successive,  in  corre- 
spondence with  external  co-existence  and  sequences." 
That  definition,  surely,  is  as  luminous  as  mud,  about 
as  clear  and  illuminating  as  his  definition  of  progres- 
sion. This,  he  assures  us,  consists  in  "advancing 
from  the  definite  homogeneous  to  the  definite  hetero- 


THEISM  AND   ANTI-THEISM.  131 

geneous."  The  correctness  of  this  definition  is  a 
matter  of  dispute  among  some  of  his  learned  disci- 
ples. His  philosophy,  and  that  of  anti-theists  of  all 
schools,  when  truly  and  properly  defined,  is  "only  this, 
and  nothing  more" — conscious  and  avowed  ignorance 
of  all  realities,  giving  professedly  to  the  world  the 
science  of  the  unknowable  and  unknown. 

The  Development  Theory. — With  singular  fatuity, 
anti-theists  of  all  schools  have  adopted  the  develop- 
ment theory  as  a  last  stronghold  of  the  doctrine  of 
natural  law.  Their  supreme  aim  is  to  exclude  wholly 
the  idea  of  the  agency  of  Infinity  and  Perfection  in 
the  organization  and  government  of  the  universe. 
This  theory  carries  the  origin  of  things  back  to  an 
incalculable  distance  in  the  past.  To  think  of  the 
world  as  having  existed  thus  long,  is  equivalent  with 
anti-theists  to  the  idea  that  it  was  never  created  at 
all ;  that  is,  to  an  utter  exclusion  of  divine  agency 
from  the  universe.  They  forget  that  whatever  took 
form  in  time,  as  all  things  did,  according  to  this  the- 
ory, is  a  creation,  and  absolutely  implies  a  creator, 
distance  of  time  making  no  difference.  Then,  as  all 
organizations,  animal  and  vegetable,  are,  according  to 
this  theory,  developed  according  to  natural  law,  it 
seems,  at  first  view,  as  if  God  had  no  agency  in  na- 
ture. But  let  us  go  back  to  the  first  principle,  from 
which  all  things,  according  to  this  theory,  have  been 
developed.  This  principle  could  not  have  existed  in 
nature  by  natural  law.  In  that  case  it  would  unde- 
niably have  acted  from  eternity ;  whereas,  it  as  unde- 
niably commenced  action  in  time.  Nor  could  it  have 
been  introduced  into  nature  by  natural  law;  for,  if 


1 3  2  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

natural  law  had  failed  to  introduce  such  a  principle 
into  nature  from  eternity  up  to  any  given  period,  it 
could  not  have  done  it  then.  Nature  does  not  and 
can  not  thus  change  her  own  laws.  The  principle, 
undeniably,  must  have  been  introduced  by  a  power 
from  'without  and  above  nature  ;  which  can  have  been 
nothing  but  the  agency  of  infinity  and  perfection,  the 
agency  which  these  scientists  would  wholly  exclude 
from  nature.  But  what  must  have  been  the  character 
of  this  principle,  from  which  all  other  vital  organiza- 
tions have  been  developed?  It  must  have  contained 
in  itself  the  germs  of  all  that  was  afterward  developed 
from  it ;  that  is,  of  all  organizations,  animal  and  veg- 
etable. Now,  this  would  have  been  the  most  won- 
drous form  of  creation  to  which  Infinity  and  Perfection 
could  have  given  birth,  and  would,  if  true,  involve  the 
most  absolute  demonstration  of  the  agency  of  God  in 
nature.  Thus,  to  escape  the  idea  of  divine  agency  in 
nature,  anti-theists  have  leaped  into  a  theory  which 
involves  them  in  the  most  palpable  contradiction  and 
absurdity. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  thoughts  for  a  moment  to  this 
theory  itself.  Mr.  Darwin,  its  great  modern  ex- 
pounder, is  constrained  to  admit  that,  throughout  the 
wide  range  of  geological  science,  he  has  not  found  a 
single  abnormal  form  of  living  beings  indicating,  in 
the  remotest  degree,  the  transmutation  of  one  species 
into  another.  Turning  in  despair  from  the  revelations 
of  this  science,  he  has  made  a  very  wide  induction  of 
facts  in  respect  to  the  influence  of  domestication  and 
other  causes  in  inducing  a  diversity  of  classes  in  the 
same    species.      But    here,  as  before,  his    argument 


THEISM  AND  A NTI-  THEISM.  1 3  3 

utterly  fails.  While  he  has  done  much  to  show  that 
domestication  and  other  causes  may  induce  many  wide 
diversities  in  the  same  species,  he  has  not  adduced  a 
solitary  fact  indicating  in  the  least  degree  that  any 
one  species  ever  has  been,  or  ever  can  be,  developed 
from  another  by  any  natural  cause, — the  only  question 
at  issue.  The  argument,  as  really  presented  by  the 
advocates  of  this  theory,  may  be  thus  stated:  An 
endless  diversity  of  the  grape,  for  example,  has  been 
developed,  by  domestication  and  other  causes,  from 
some  one  original  form.  Therefore,  the  grape  may  be 
developed  into  the  apple-tree.  From  this,  the  final 
conclusion  is  deduced,  as  a  truth  of  science,  that  all 
vital  organizations  were,  in  fact,  originated  in  accord- 
ance with  the  principles  of  this  theory.  This  argu- 
ment, fairly  stated,  presents  one  of  the  widest  leaps 
in  logic  ever  made  or  attempted  by  any  power  but  a 
crazy  philosophy. 

Conflicts  between  Science  mid  Religion. — We  have 
now,  we  remark,  in  the  last  place,  attained  to  a  stand- 
point from  which  we  can  most  clearly  determine  the 
character  of  all  conflicts,  real  or  apparent,  which  may 
arise  between  religion  and  science.  In  the  depart- 
ment of  natural  theology,  it  has  now  become  perfectly 
apparent  that  no  such  conflict  is  possible.  Either 
theism  or  the  doctrine  of  natural  law,  as  we  have 
seen,  must  be  true.  In  favor  of  the  latter,  as  we  have 
also  seen,  science  absolutely  denies  all  possible  proof, 
positive  evidence,  and  antecedent  probability.  Here, 
then,  a  conflict  between  science  and  religion  is  mani- 
festly impossible.  Religion,  on  the  other  hand,  ac- 
cepts of  no  form  or  degree  of  evidence  in  its  favor 


134  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

which  science  does  not  affirm  to  be  absolutely  valid. 
Here,  also,  as  before,  all  forms  and  degrees  of  conflict 
between  science  and  religion  are  absolute  impossibil- 
ities. While  science,  also,  adduces,  and  can  adduce, 
no  form  or  degree  of  evidence  against  theism,  it  does 
present,  as  we  have  seen,  absolute  proof  of  the  being 
and  perfections  of  a  personal  God.  When  anti-theism 
impeaches  the  validity  of  the  intelligence,  as  the 
ground  of  denying  the  claims  of  religion — and  it  can 
deny  these  claims  on  no  other  condition — the  conflict 
is  not  then  between  religion  and  science,  but  between 
the  intelligence  and  "  science  falsely  so  called." 

The  only  conflict  which  can,  even  in  appearance, 
arise,  is  not  between  science  and  theism,  but  between 
the  former  and  revealed  religion.  Here  the  only  peril 
to  be  apprehended  is  hasty  deductions  in  the  sphere 
of  natural  science  on  the  one  hand,  and  Biblical  inter- 
pretation on  the  other.  When  geology  shall  have  at- 
tained to  the  full  consummation  of  a  fixed  science, 
and  the  stand-point  from  which  the  first  revelator  had 
a  vision  of  the  progress  of  creation,  shall  have  been  as 
fully  and  finally  determined,  then  we  shall  know  abso- 
lutely whether  the  Spirit  of  inspiration — the  Spirit 
which  brought  order  out  of  chaos  —  has,  indeed, 
dropped  an  inadvertent  thought 

"  In  that  dearest  of  books,  that  excels  every  other, 
The  old  family  Bible,  that  lies  on  the  stand." 

Most  of  the  issues  which  have  hitherto  been  raised 
have  already  been  settled,  and,  as  real  science  pro- 
gresses onward,  what  remain  are  rapidly  becoming 
"beautifully  less."  The  light  of  a  rectified  philosophy 
and  of  a  pure  religion  are  piercing  through  the  fog- 


THEISM  AND  ANTI-THEISM.  1 35 

banks  which  the  reekings  of  false  science  have  sent  up 
from  the  death-swamps  of  unbelief.  The  era  is  not 
distant  when  the  last  cloud  of  darkness  will  have 
passed  away,  and  religion  and  science  will  become 
visible  to  all  the  world,  as  having  a  common  source 
and  a  common  end  and  aim,  the  light  of  each  proceed- 
ing from  the  same  central  sun  of  universal  illumina- 
tion, the  face  of  Infinity  unveiled. 


Lecture  V. 


MIRACLES 


REV.  BISHOP  EDWARD  THOMSON,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 


Delaware,  Ohio. 


13 


Lecture  v. 


miracles 


AS  Christianity  is  established  in  the  mind  of 
Christendom,  the  burden  of  proof  is  with  its 
opposers.  Still,  it  may  be  well,  in  a  skeptical  age, 
occasionally  to  revert  to  the  foundations  of  our  faith. 
Infidelity  has  invaded  the  Church,  often  putting  on 
the  badges  of  ecclesiastical  authority,  eating  the  bread 
of  the  Lord's  table,  and  teaching  his  children  ;  and 
though  in  the  garb  of  an  angel  of  light,  and  speaking 
in  the  sacred  names  of  God,  Reason,  and  Freedom,  it 
has  all  the  venom  of  an  angel  of  darkness.  Usually, 
it  accepts  the  Bible  as  a  grand  product  of  antiquity, 
and  system  of  morality,  and  fountain  of  devotion ;  the 
Church,  as  a  support  of  the  State,  a  means  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  a  source  of  refinement;  the  Savior,  as  a 
teacher,  of  charming  rhetoric,  pure  character,  and 
wholesome  doctrine,  to  which  he  sacrificed  his  life — 
but  it  would  eliminate  from  them  all  the  miraculous 
element. 

This  tendency  of  modern  thought  is  not  surpris- 
ing, considering  the  almost  exclusive  cultivation  of 
the  natural  sciences,  and  employment  of  human  ge- 
nius in  material  enterorises.    Against  it  we  assert  that 

139 


I40  .  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

Jesus  Christ  authenticated  a  divine  mission  by  mir- 
aculous acts.  We  prove  this  proposition  by  a  few 
sucessive  steps;  namely:  miracles  are  possible,  prob- 
able, provable,  proved. 

I.  Miracles  are  possible.  This  would  not  be  as- 
serted if  it  had  not  been  denied.  Strauss  says  that 
the  chain  of  finite  causes  being  inviolable,  a  miracle  is 
not  possible.  But  this  is  assuming  what  ought  to  be 
proved,  what  can  not  be  proved,  and  what  can  be 
disproved. 

a.  If  nature  is  bound  in  an  eternal,  inviolable  chain 
of  finite  causes  and  effects,  religion  and.  even  Provi- 
dence are  impossibilities,  human  responsibility  is  a 
delusion,  and  prayer  a  folly.  But  what  say  the  uni- 
versal reason  and  universal  heart  to  such  conclusions  ? 
Indeed,  to  deny  the  possibility  of  miracles  is  stark 
atheism.  God  is  a  supernatural  being.  A  super- 
natural being  must  have  supernatural  powers  ;  he  who 
has  supernatural  powers  must  be  capable  of  super- 
natural acts. 

b.  To  deny  that  God  ever  modifies  the  order  of 
natural  sequences,  is  to  make  him  inferior  to  man, 
who  is  at  all  times  operating  on  the  line  of  causes 
and  effects,  and  modifying  results  at  his  will. 

c.  That  God  has  modified  the  order  of  nature,  the 
globe  itself  shows  ;  for  it  was  not  created  at  once,  but 
by  successive  acts,  as  geology  proves.  The  destruc- 
tion of  one  set  of  species  and  the  creation  of  a  dif- 
ferent set,  and  the  alteration  of  the  conditions  of  the 
globe  to  adapt  it  to  the  new  creations,  being  not  the 
results  of  established  laws,  but  of  the  overrulings  of 
them,  are  so  many  different  miracles.     The  successive 


MIRACLES.  141 

strata  of  the  world's  crust  record  more  miracles  than 
the  successive  leaves  of  the  Bible ;  nor  are  the  mira- 
cles spoken  from  the  mouths  of  prophets  more  won- 
derful than  those  recorded  in  the  lasting  rocks.  But 
regard  the  world  as  it  now  is.  Say,  if  you  please, 
that  all  animal  forms  have  been  developed  by  force 
of  inherent  laws  from  a  single  animated  germ.  How 
came  that  germ  ?  It  could  not  have  been  derived 
from  the  vegetable  world.  There  is  a  gulf  between 
the  two  which  must  be  bridged  by  a  miracle.  Sup- 
pose we  overlook  that  miracle  and  ascend  through 
the  various  forms  of  vegetable  life  to  a  primal  vegeta- 
ble cell,  from  which  all  living  nature  has  evolved 
itself.  How  came  that  vital  cell  ?  Here  is  another 
gulf  which  nothing  but  a  miracle  can  bridge.  Let 
us  ignore  this,  and  suppose  that,  somehow,  it  sprung 
from  inorganic  matter ;  that  life  leaped  out  of  death. 
How  came  the  world,  on  which  it  is  planted,  organ- 
ized, garnished,  illuminated,  warmed  ?  What  gave 
character  and  weight  to  atoms,  and  order  to  the 
families  of  material  cohesion  ?  Between  the  universe 
and  chaos  is  another  chasm  which  must  be  bridged 
by  a  miracle.  The  Divine,  then,  must  somewhere 
break  through  the  chain  of  causes  and  effects.  If  so, 
who  shall  blasphemously  seek  to  exclude  him  from 
the  circle  or  say,  "Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  and  no 
further  ?"  As  God  has  modified  the  established  order 
of  things  in  the  past,  there  is  reason  to  suppose  he  is 
doing  so  in  the  present.  Direct  your  eye  outward, 
beyond  the  solar  system,  and  the  nebulae  which 
belong  to  it,  to  those  remoter  nebulas  that  float  like 
separate   universes   in   the  outer   depths;    buried   so 


I42  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

deep  in  space  that  light,  traveling  twelve  millions  of 
miles  a  minute,  would  not  reach  our  earth  from 
thence  in  fifty  thousand  years  ;  some  of  them  mani- 
festing no  signs  of  resolvability  under  the  most  favor- 
ble  circumstances  and  most  rigorous  tests  of  science. 
Have  we  not  reason  to  suppose  that  new  planets  are 
there  evolving  from  their  centers?  Suppose  they 
issue  from  their  furnaces  and  enter  on  their  paths, 
by  force  of  ordinary  law ;  must  not  some  creative 
energy  be  put  forth  to  clothe  their  valleys  with  green 
and  render  them  vocal  with  song  ?  How  are  the 
eighteen  elements  which  enter  into  the  plant  or 
animal  to  be  selected,  gathered,  brought  together  in 
the  exact  proportions  necessary  and  then  molded  into 
organs  and  systems,  and  animated  with  life?  Surely 
we  need  more  than  the  laws  of  the  inorganic  world. 

II.    Miracles  are  probable. 

a.  There  is  a  natural  necessity  for  them.  As 
we  have  reason  to  believe  that  God  has  modified 
established  order  in  the  past  and  present,  so  have 
we  reason  to  suppose  that  he  will  in  the  future. 
According  to  laws  as  well  settled  as  that  by  which  a 
stone  thrown  into  the  air  will  come  down,  the  moon 
is  drawing  nearer  to  the  earth  and  must  soon  meet 
it,  breaking  up  the  crust  of  the  globe  by  the  shock, 
generating  intense  heat  by  the  destruction  of  its  mo- 
tion and  fusing  both  in  to  one  molten  mass.  By 
the  same  process,  the  earth  and  attendant  planets  are 
winding  inward  to  fall  into  the  furnace  of  the  sun, 
and  the  suns  themselves  with  their  planetary  sys- 
tems are  coming  together  into  a  common  globe, 
which,  though  intensely  hot   at   first,  will  gradually 


MIRACLES.  143 

cool.  When  the  temperature  of  nine  hundred  and 
ninety-seven  degrees  in  the  downward  progress  is 
reached,  all  physical  energy  will  cease,  light,  heat 
and  electricity  will  be  equally  diffused,  all  change 
become  impossible,  darkness  and  death  will  be  uni- 
versal, and  chaos  be  restored.  What  then  ?  Shall  the 
universe  stagnate  forever  ?  Surely  he  can  not  think 
so,  who  believes  in  God.  No ;  the  Creator  will  then 
come  forth ;  at  his  voice  there  will  be  a  resurrection, 
a  reconstruction,  a  restoration  of  the  order  of  things. 
But  why  not  break  the  order  to  arrest  the  progress  to 
destruction,  rather  than  after  it  has  taken  place? 
What  do  you  gain  for  physical  science  by  putting  off 
the  omnific  mandate  to  the  close  ?  And  if  you  allow 
interference  with  material  law,  to  save  a  material 
universe,  why  not  to  save  a  moral  one  ?  How  much 
superior  one  man  to  all  stellar  worlds !  As  Pascal 
has  justly  said  :  "  Man  is  but  a  reed,  the  weakest  in 
nature  ;  but  he  is  a  thinking  reed.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary that  the  entire  universe  arm  itself  to  crush  him. 
A  breath  of  air,  a  drop  of  water,  suffices  to  kill  him. 
But  were  the  universe  to  crush  him,  man  would  still 
be  more  noble  than  that  which  kills  him,  because  he 
knows  that  he  dies,  and  the  universe  knows  nothing 
of  the  advantage  it  has  over  him." 

u  Behold  this  midnight  glory :  worlds  on  worlds  ! 
Amazing  pomp !     Redouble  this  amaze  ; 
Ten  thousand  add  ;  add  twice  ten  thousand  more  ; 
Then  weigh  the  whole, — one  soul  outweighs  them  all, 
And  calls  th'  astonishing  magnificence 
Of  unintelligent  creation  poor."* 

*  "  Young's  Night  Thoughts,"  vii,  994. 


144  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

b.  There  is  a  moral  necessity  for  them.  Miracles, 
in  the  theological  sense,  are  more  than  Strauss  as- 
sumes ;  and  yet,  in  this  superior  sense,  they  are  prob- 
able. A  revelation  from  God  implies  them.  Faith 
requires  evidence,  and  the  kind  of  evidence  is  to  be 
determined  by  the  matter  to  be  proved  ;  for  a  proposi- 
tion and  its  proof  must  be  homogeneous.  As  moral 
truth  requires  moral  evidence,  algebraic  truth  an 
algebraic  process,  mathematical  truth  a  mathematical 
demonstration,  so  supernatural  truth  requires  super- 
natural attestation.  When  Jesus  said,  "  If  I  had  not 
done  among  them  the  works  which  no  other  man  did, 
they  had  not  had  sin  ;"  *  that  is,  they  would  have 
been  excused  for  rejecting  him  ;  and  when  Nico- 
demus  said,  "  We  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come 
from  God  ;  for  no  man  can  do  these  miracles  that 
thou  doest,  except  God  be  with  him,Mf — they  ex- 
pressed the  general  conviction  of  mankind,  that 
miracles  are  the  proper  and  indispensable  proofs  of 
revelation.  Since,  therefore,  a  revelation  can  be 
proved  in  no  other  way  than  by  miracles,  there  is  a 
probability  in  their  favor  measurable  by  the  evidence 
that  man  needs  further  moral  and  religious  light  than 
nature  affords. 

c.  There  is  a  fitness  in  them.  God  has  made  the 
human  mind  with  a  tendency  to  believe  in  things 
supernatural.  All  ages  and  nations  have  so  believed. 
Hence  the  saying  of  Plutarch,  "As  well  build  a  city 
in  the  air,  as  without  belief  in  the  gods."  This  be- 
lief is  not  confined  to  the  lower  orders.  Socrates, 
greatest  among  the  ancients  ;   Bacon,  greatest  among 

*  John  xv,  24.  t  John  iii,  2. 


MIRACLES.  145 

the  moderns;  Herbert,  first  among  philosophical 
skeptics ;  Wesley,  first  among  emotional  preachers, — 
had  it  in  equal  degree.  The  theory  that,  as  mankind 
advances  in  knowledge,  it  diminishes  until,  finally,  it 
ceases,  is  untenable.  The  present  age  is  by  no 
means  emancipated  from  it,  even  in  the  most  en- 
lightened states.  Though  we  have  disenchanted  por- 
tents and  wonders,  and  earthquakes  and  meteors 
and  simoons ;  and  banished  witchcraft  and  magic, 
and  sorcery  and  necromancy  and  ghosts  ;  we  have 
not  even  weakened  the  popular  faith  in  the  super- 
natural, or  in  its  influence  upon  the  natural.  Even 
they  who  shake  off  their  religious  faith  usually  adopt 
another  no  less  supernatural.  Spiritualism  follows  in 
the  wake  of  skepticism.  He  who  was  once  high- 
priest  of  materialism  in  America,  is  now  high-priest 
of  spiritualism  in  America.  Can  you  arrest  this 
tendency  with  the  laboratory  ?  As  well  attempt  to 
destroy  the  atmosphere  with  an  air-pump.  As  we 
might  argue  the  existence  of  light  from  the  structure 
of  the  eye,  so  may  we  argue  the  probability  of  mira- 
cles from  the  universal  belief  in  miraculous  mani- 
festations. The  mind  is  as  substantial  a  part  of 
human  nature  as  the  body,  and  as  sound  a  basis  of 
reasoning. 

d.  There  is  an  analogy  for  miracles.  Every-where 
we  see  subordination  of  one  law  to  a  higher.  The 
animal  pumps  up  blood  in  defiance  of  gravitation  ;  it 
appropriates  elements  and  molds  them  into  combina- 
tions unknown  in  inorganic  spheres ;  the  mind  sub- 
ordinates the  vital  laws.  Thus  we  see  successive 
layers  of  laws,  as  wheels  within  wheels  in  the  proph- 


I46  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

et's  vision ;  the  lower  subjected  to  the  higher ;  the 
vital  subordinating  the  physical ;  the  mental,  both. 
Why  not  a  higher  force  subjecting  all,  if  need  be,  for 
higher  ends?  Surely,  this  is  not  incredible  to  men 
who  see,  in  the  ascending  series  of  being,  the  uprising 
of  a  Supreme  Power,  and  feel  coming  down  from  all 
the  depths,  and  through  all  the  openings,  and  over 
all  the  walls,  of  the  universe,  the  influence  of  a  heart 
that  speaks  to  our  own. 

e.  The  objections  to  miracles  are  easily  answered. 
Say  not  that  the  world,  being  established  under  God's 
laws,  needs  no  interference.  So  far  as  God  is  con- 
cerned, this  may  be ;  but  man,  created  in  God's  image, 
rational  and  free,  has,  by  sin,  broken  in  upon  the 
moral  order  established  by  infinite  wisdom,  and  thus 
given  occasion  for  miracle ;  even  demanded  it.  The 
whole  creation  groaneth  in  pain  together  until  now, 
for  the  miracle  of  redemption.  When  a  surgeon 
brings  together  the  fragments  of  a  broken  limb,  does 
he  interfere  with  established  law? 

Nor  are  we  to  suppose  that  miracles  are  incredible 
because  incomprehensible.  A  clergyman  asked  one 
who  would  not  believe  what  he  could  not  compre- 
hend, why  the  horns  of  one  cow  turn  in  and  those  of 
another  turn  out.  The  skeptic  was  confounded.  The 
clergyman  might  have  taken  his  antagonist  upward 
from  the  horns  of  the  cow  to  those  of  the  moon, 
thence  to  the  most  distant  star  in  the  milky  way,  or 
downward,  from  the  horns  of  the  cow  to  those  of  the 
snail,  and  from  the  horns  of  the  snail  to  the  smallest  in- 
sect that  hums  in  the  morning  air,  without  finding  any 
thing  comprehensible  to  human  mind.     "It  is  incom- 


MIRACLES.  147 

prehensible  that  God  is,  and  incomprehensible  that 
he  is  not;  that  the  soul  is  in  the  body,  that  we  have 
no  soul ;  that  the  world  is  created,  that  it  is  not 
created."  And  shall  man,  "this  mean  between  noth- 
ing and  all,"  to  whom  the  end  of  things  and  their 
principle  are  inevitably  and  impenetrably  concealed, 
"equally  incapable  of  seeing  the  nothingness  whence 
he  is  derived  and  the  infinity  in  which  he  is  swallowed 
up," — shall  man  dare  to  say,  as  he  trembles  between 
eternities  and  infinities :  "  There  is  matter,  attraction, 
impulse ;  beyond  that,  nothing.  There  are  plants,  an- 
imals, man ;  beyond  him,  nothing.  There  is  mind, 
thought,  law  ;  beyond,  nothing, — because  I  can  not 
comprehend  it  ?"     O,  folly !     O,  presumption  ! 

III.  Miracles  are  provable.  Hume  has  said,  and 
his  argument  is  often  repeated,  that  a  miracle  being 
contrary  to  experience,  is  not  provable  by  testimony, 
since  it  is  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  testimony 
is  false  than  that  a  miracle  is  true.  The  sophism  is 
full  of  ambiguities.  It  is  sufficient  to  notice  one.  It 
is  in  the  word  testimony,  which  may  mean  either  tes- 
timony in  the  abstractor  a  particular  testimony.  If 
the  word  be  used  in  the  former  sense,  the  premise  is 
true,  but  the  argument  is  void ;  for  it  is  not  by  tes- 
timony in  the  abstract,  but  by  a  particular  kind  of  tes- 
timony that  miracles  are  established.  To  put  the 
fallacy  in  syllogistic  form  :  Testimony — according  to 
experience — may  be  fallacious.  The  Gospel  is  testi- 
mony ;  therefore,  the  Gospel — according  to  experi- 
ence— may  be  fallacious.  The  first  premise  is  an 
indefinite  proposition;  put  all,  the  universal  sign, 
before  it,  and  you  have  valid  reasoning,  but  a  false 


I48  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

premise;  for  it  is  not  true  that  all  testimony  is  falla- 
cious ;  though  testimony  in  general  is,  there  is  a 
species  of  it  which  at  once  excludes  the  idea  of  fraud 
on  the  one  hand  and  delusion  on  the  other — the  very 
kind  we  have  for  the  Christian  miracles.  Change  the 
universal  sign  to  the  particular,  and  the  premises  are 
true,  but  the  reasoning  becomes  invalid ;  for,  in  scien- 
tific language,  you  have  an  undistributed  middle.  To 
illustrate:  Suppose  you  go  into  court  with  proof  of 
your  title  to  a  particular  estate,  what  would  it  avail 
for  opposing  counsel  to  say :  This  is  testimony ;  there- 
fore, this  is  fallacious  ?  You  would  reply :  Grant  that 
testimony  in  general  is  fallacious ;  it  is  incumbent  on 
you,  if  you  would  defeat  my  claim  to  this  estate,  to 
show  that  the  particular  evidence  on  which  it  rests  is 
fallacious. 

IV.  The  miracles  of  Christ  are  proved.  The  evi- 
dence is  found  in  the  Gospels.  We  assume  their  authen- 
ticity not  only  because  it  is  proved  in  works  accessible 
to  all  readers,  but  because  it  is  admitted  by  both  Renan 
and  Colenso,  the  representatives  of  the  great  skeptical 
schools  of  the  age.  This  is  enough  ;  but  as  some  are 
troubled  because  the  canon  was  not  settled  until  the 
Council  of  Carthage,*  be  it  observed  that  this  body 
did  not  create,  it  merely  announced,  the  long-settled 
judgment  of  the  Church.  Since  some  are  perplexed 
about  the  apocryphal  books,  mark  that  they  were  not 
contradictory,  but  complementary,  of  the  canonical ; 
and,  as  many  are  disquieted  because  the  works  quot- 
ing the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament  are  none 
earlier  than  the  second  century,  it  may  be  well  to  note 

*A.  D.  397. 


MIRACLES.  I49 

that,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century,  Irenaeus 
quotes  the  four  Gospels  by  name.  He  could  not  have 
been  imposed  on  by  any  publication  which  Polycarp, 
Bishop  of  Smyrna,  disowned.  But  Polycarp,  born  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  80,  was  the  contemporary  and 
companion  of  both  St.  John  and  Irenaeus,  and  must 
have  known  what  works  were  received  by  John  as  the 
writings  of  the  apostles.  The  four  Gospels,  then, 
must  have  been  received  by  the  Church  of  the  first 
century — the  apostolic  age. 

The  testimony  of  the  Gospels  is  corroborated  by 
an  independent  author — St.  Paul,  in  his  uncontested 
epistles.  He  asserts  that  Jesus  appeared,  after  his 
resurrection,  on  six  different  occasions — to  Cephas,  to 
the  twelve,  to  more  than  five  hundred  brethren  at 
once,  to  James,  to  all  the  apostles,  and  to  himself.* 
He  gives  the  appearance  of  Christ  to  himself  as  a 
proof  of  his  apostolic  mission,  and  of  his  parity  with 
the  other  apostles ;  and  of  course  it  must  have  been 
by  sight,  and  not  by  conception  or  imagination,  or  the 
argument  would  have  had  no  force.  The  whole  life  of 
the  apostle,  the  grandest  in  history  next  to  Christ's, 
rests  upon  this  fact. 

Is  the  testimony  to  the  Savior's  miracles  credible  ? 
The  objections  to  it  are  two — its  age  and  its  inade- 
quacy. First.  It  is  said  to  be  subject  to  abatement 
from  the  lapse  of  time  since  it  was  given.  But  on 
what  does  the  credibility  of  testimony  depend  ?  On 
the  period  of  time  when  it  was  given,  or  on  the  ability, 
diligence,  and  honesty  of  the  witnesses  ?  If  on  the 
latter,  then,  as  long  as  these  characteristics  can  be 

*  1  Cor.  xv,  5-7. 


1 50  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

evinced,  so  long  will  the  testimony  be  credible.  I 
believe  that  Senorita  Aldama  was  shot  in  the  theater 
of  Havana,  but  I  believe  more  firmly  that  Caesar  was 
stabbed  in  the  senate  house  at  Rome,  although  the 
former  occurred  only  a  few  days  since,  and  the  latter 
nearly  two  thousand  years  ago.  I  believe  that  Grant 
took  Richmond,  and,  with'  as  firm  a  conviction,  that 
Bonaparte  crossed  the  Alps,  Hannibal  retreated  from 
Italy,  and  Xerxes  from  Greece.  Had  Bonaparte  not 
crossed  the  Alps,  the  current  of  history  for  the  last 
ninety  years  would  have  been  different.  Had  Hanni- 
bal invaded  Italy  with  a  different  result  than  history 
records,  Italian  civilization  would  have  been  Punic. 
Had  the  Persians  triumphed  at  Marathon  and  Sala- 
mis,  the  civilization  of  Greece  might  have  been  Asi- 
atic. I  read  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
to-day  with  as  much  faith  as  did  the  citizen  of  Phil- 
adelphia, when  the  ink  was  scarcely  dry  upon  the 
parchment.  I  know  that  without  this  Constitution, 
the  history  and  condition  of  the  country  can  not  be 
accounted  for.  The  division,  organization,  and  rela- 
tions of  the  States ;  the  General  Government,  Con- 
gress, the  President,  the  Supreme  Court,  all  grow  out 
of  the  Constitution.  Suppose  the  Government  to  con- 
tinue a  thousand  years,  would  the  Constitution  be 
quoted  with  any  less  faith  than  it  is  to-day?  The 
New  Testament  is  the  Constitution  of  the  Church. 
Without  this,  how  can  you  account  for  its  origin, 
institutions,  history,  or  for  the  history  of  Europe  and 
the  world?  for  it  has  shaped  the  course  of  science, 
and  turned  the  hinges  of  empires.  Where  Gibbon 
has  failed,  we  would  better  not  try.    Instead  of  truth's 


MIRACLES.  151 

being  absorbed  as  it  descends  the  ages,  it  wears  its 
channel  deeper  with  the  lapse  of  time. 

But,  second,  the  evidence  is  said  to  be  insufficient. 
It  will  not  do  to  reject  it  because  of  our  preposses- 
sions. To  refuse  to  believe  evidence  because  it  con- 
flicts, with  our  theory  of  natural  laws,  is  inconsistent 
with  that  (Baconian)  philosophy  which  infidels  laud ; 
which  lies  at  the  basis  of  modern  science ;  and  whose 
primary  principle  is,  that  whatever  is  proved  must  be 
believed,  any  pre-conceived  opinion  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding.  Perceiving  this  inconsistency,  the 
ablest  skeptics  of  the  day  are  compelled  to  admit  that 
there  is  a  kind  of  proof  which  would  convince  them 
of  miracles. 

Let  a  man  give  out  that,  at  a  certain  time  and 
place,  he  will  perform  a  miracle.  Suppose  that  he  will 
cause  a  body  to  rise  contrary  to  the  law  of  gravitation. 
Let  a  committee  of  distinguished  philosophers  be  ap- 
pointed to  witness  it.  Let  them  take  all  needful 
precautions,  and  exercise  all  needful  scrutiny  in  its 
examination.  If  they  certify  that  the  miracle  has 
been  performed,  it  must  be  believed  ;  though,  to  re- 
move any  lingering  doubt,  it  should  be  repeated, 
somewhat  varied.*  Infidels  may  believe  in  such  a 
miracle,  not  we.  We  believe  in  the  uniformity  of 
nature's  laws,  though  they  are  under  the  control  of 
infinite  wisdom,  and  may  sometimes  be  violated  for 
the  sake  of  the  natural  or  moral  world.  But,  in  the 
case  described,  there  is  no  great  end  accomplished ; 
no  new  light  thrown  either  upon  science  or  morals  ; 
no  new  encouragement  given  to  the  human  heart ;  no 

*  "  Renan's  Life  of  Jesus  :"  Introduction,  p.  44. 


1 5  2  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

new  strength  imparted  to  human  virtue  ;  no  opening 
made  into  the  spiritual  world  ;  no  communication  of 
truth  lying  beyond  the  range  of  reason  ;  no  new  era 
introduced, — a  nine  days'  wonder,  and  that  is  all. 

Now,  we  think  either  of  the  following  supposi- 
tions— namely,  that  a  deception  has  been  practiced 
upon  the  senses  of  the  cofhmittee,  or  that  some  new 
law  has  been  discovered,  the  secret  of  which  is  with  the 
performer — is  more  credible  than  that  a  law  of  nature 
has,  at  the  bidding  of  a  mere  man,  been  suspended. 
Such  a  miracle  is  no  more  like  our  Savior's,  than  a 
school-boy's  top  is  like  the  planet  Jupiter.  Indeed, 
it  is  not  a  miracle  in  the  theological  sense.  In  this 
sense,  a  miracle  is  a  suspension,  control,  or  reversal  of 
a  known  law,  by  the  act,  assistance,  or  permission  of 
God,  performed  by  a  lofty  character,  and  preceded  by 
a  notification  that  it  is  wrought  to  attest  the  authority 
of  a  divine  messenger,  or  to  authenticate  a  divine 
message,  of  great  moral  and  permanent  benefit  to 
mankind.  In  the  case  supposed,  five  things  are  want- 
ing to  constitute  the  miracle:  I.  An  ample  notice; 
2.  An  adequate  power ;  3.  A  sufficient  motive ;  4.  A 
grand  agent;  5.  Important  and  permanent  conse- 
quences. All  these  belong  to  the  miracles  of  Christ. 
Mark  first  the  pre-notification.  It  has  sounded 
through  the  world  and  through  the  ages.  This  noti- 
fication is  in  a  series  of  prophecies  by  Adam,  Abra- 
ham, Jacob,  Moses,  David,  Isaiah,  etc.,  in  which  Christ 
is  presented  as  the  Shiloh,  the  Great  Prophet,  the 
Prince,  the  Deliverer,  the  Messiah  ;  also,  in  a  series 
of  types,  as  the  scape-goat,  passover,  morning  and 
evening  sacrifice,   in   which  he   is  exhibited   as    the 


MIRACLES.  153 

Lamb  of  God  ;  and,  finally,  in  a  series  of  typical  char- 
acters, as  Joshua,  Joseph,  David,  in  which  he  is  fore- 
shown as  he  who  is  to  save  the  world,  and  lead  his 
people  into  eternity.  He  is  predicted  so  minutely, 
that  almost  every  incident  of  his  life,  from  the  man- 
ger to  the  tomb,  is  described  ;  so  clearly,  that,  by  an 
alteration  of  tenses,  prophecy  may,  in  many  cases,  be 
turned  into  biography;  and  so  peculiarly,  that  in 
Christ  only,  of  all  the  race,  can  the  lines  of  Mes- 
sianic promise  meet.  He  is  to  come  during  the 
fourth  pagan  monarchy,  before  the  scepter  departed 
from  Judah,  while  the  second  temple  was  still  stand- 
ing, and  in  the  seventieth  year  of  Daniel.  These 
prophecies  are  held  by  the  Jews,  the  enemies  of  Chris- 
tianity. They  were  interpreted  of  the  Messiah  by 
them  until  his  coming,  and  were  confirmed  by  their 
rejection  of  him  when  he  came.  They  are  harmonious 
in  doctrine,  precept,  promise,  and  both  complementary 
and  illustrative  of  each  other.  They  were  translated 
into  Greek,  and  read  by  the  Gentiles,  before  the  Chris- 
tian era.  Many  of  their  predictions  have  been  clearly 
proved  by  Volney  and  other  infidels,  while  none  can 
be  shown  to  have  been  falsified.  They  have  been 
examined  as  no  other  book ;  yet  after  enduring  eight- 
een hundred  years  of  intensest  criticism,  they  shine 
out  more  than  ever.  They  have  been  hindered  as  no 
others,  yet  are  they  going  forth  in  more  lands  than 
before,  soon  to  be  read  in  all  the  languages  of  the 
polyglossal  world.  They  have  been  opposed  as  no 
other ;  for  they  oppose,  as  no  other,  the  passions  of 
man's  nature,  and  describe,  as  no  other,  the  depth  of 
his  depravity  ;  yet  are  they  received  by  more  men  and 


154  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

nations  now  than  ever  before,  and  are  prized  by  them 
as  a  general  rule,  in  proportion  to  their  intelligence 
and  virtue. 

You  point  your  telescope  into  space,  and  see  a 
set  of  planets  arranged  in  order,  and  wheeling  in  har- 
mony, at  different  distances  around  the  sun.  God 
alone,  who  pervades  all  space,  can  build  such  a  system. 
Point,  now,  your  telescope  through  past  time,  and  you 
see  a  series  of  prophetic  lights  sphered  around  one 
great  central  orb,  the  truth  that  "  Jesus  Christ  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners  ;"  they  are  at  different 
distances,  from  the  year  410  B.  C.  to  the  birth  of  man. 
First,  the  sixteen  prophets,  of  different  ages,  nations, 
occupations,  and  locations  ;  then  the  Mosaic  dispen- 
sation, with  its  apparatus  of  types  and  ceremonies, 
like  Jupiter  and  his  moons  ;  then  the  patriarchal  his- 
tory, with  significant  characters,  altars,  and  sacrifices, 
like  Saturn  and  its  rings  ;  then  Genesis,  with  its  first 
promise  in  the  garden,  like  the  far-distant  Neptune. 
Who  but  God,  that  pervades  all  time,  can  construct 
such  a  moral  planetary  system.  To  herald  what  being 
save  Jesus  Christ,  was  such  a  system  ever  constructed  ? 
Such,  then,  is  the  pre-notification  of  his  coming. 

Second.  The  cause  of  Christ's  miracles  is  adequate. 
It  is  not  the  power  of  man,  or  angel,  but  of  the  Al- 
mighty. They  are  ascribed  to  this  agency,  and  are  of 
such  a  character  as  to  evince  it.  They  occur  in  a 
series  which  baffle  all  attempts  to  confound  them  with 
false  miracles;  or  to  account  for  them  on  Paulus's 
theory  of  natural  explanations ;  or  on  Strauss's  theory 
of  myth ;  or  on  Bauer's,  of  fundamental  ideas ;  or  on 
Renan's,    of  delusion   and    imposture.     Though    the 


MIRACLES.  155 

science  of  the  sea  has  deprived  Neptune  of  his  scepter, 
and  that  of  the  earth  has  stripped  Ceres  of  her  au- 
thority, and  chased  nymphs  and  dryads  from  woods 
and  streams,  and  the  philosophy  of  the  universe  has 
disenchanted  eclipses  and  comets ;  no  science  or 
philosophy  has  discovered  a  method  by  which  the 
blind  may  be  made  to  see  with  a  touch,  or  the  dead 
be  raised  by  the  voice  of  the  living.  These  miracles 
must  be  taken  in  connection.  A  chain  that  might 
moor  a  man-of-war  could  not,  if  its  links  were  sepa- 
rated, hold  a  fishing-smack  to  her  anchor.  If  you 
could  find  a  mode  of  explaining  each  miracle  sepa- 
rately, ascribing  one  to  legerdemain,  another  to  collu- 
sion, etc.,  it  would  by  no  means  follow  that  you  could 
account  for  the  whole  series,  without  the  supposition 
of  supernatural  power.  Even  if  you  could  explain 
Christ's  natural  miracles,  his  clear  vision,  which  de- 
tected thoughts  in  the  depths  of  the  soul,  and  the 
stater  in  the  mouth  of  the  fish  in  the  depths  of  the 
sea,  and  his  prediction  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
and  of  the  future  triumphs  of  his  spiritual  and  uni- 
versal kingdom,  would  remain  to  attest  his  divinity. 
These,  you  perceive,  are  entirely  different  from  a 
shrewd  guess,  or  the  prevision  of  human  conscience, 
anticipating  events  by  the  grooves  of  Divine  law  in 
which  they  must  needs  run,  or  the  foresight  of  polit- 
ical wisdom,  which  sometimes  works  wonderful  solu- 
tions from  given  data;  for  here  there  are  no  premises 
to  go  upon,  no  providential  chord  struck,  whose  vi- 
brations could  be  caught  by  the  distant  ear. 

Third.    The  miracles   of  Christ  are  called   forth 
by  a  sufficient   motive.     They  are  wrought  to  verify 


156  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

important  truth  lying  beyond  the  range  of  the  human 
reason  ;  namely,  the  existence  and  relations  of  the 
spiritual  and  eternal  world. 

That  such  truth  is  important  to  mankind  must  be 
evident  at  once.  It  is  truth  after  which  the  wisest 
of  all  ages  have  sought,  as,  after  hid  treasures.  With- 
out it,  our  civilization,  which  rests  upon  our  religion, 
would  fall  through,  and  we  should  reach  a  depth  of 
barbarism  worse  than  that  of  pagan  states;  without 
it,  our  aspirations  after  goodness  and  truth  and  im- 
mortality would  not  be  adequately  sustained ;  with- 
out it,  what  would  support  us  in  the  sorrows  of  life, 
sustain  us  in  the  struggles  of  virtue,  animate  us  with 
brotherly  love,  gird  us  for  sublime  heroism,  lead  us 
forth  in  the  enterprises  of  universal  philanthropy, 
and  cheer  us  as  we  pass  through  the  valley  of  death  ? 
We  grant  that  more  or  less  of  this  truth  has  been 
enjoyed  by  heathen  states  ;  but  it  has  been  imperfect 
and  derived. 

That  such  truth  lies  beyond  the  range  of  the 
reason,  is  equally  clear.  The  laws  of  physical  nature 
may  be  discovered.  Matter  is  before  us,  visible,  tan- 
gible ;  it  can  be  experimented  upon.  We  are  under 
strong  motives  to  study  its  laws.  Their  investigation 
is  a  salutary  discipline  of  mind.  But  the  spiritual 
world  lies  beyond  our  ken.  No  reasoning,  no  ex- 
perimenting, no  mental  introversion,  can  give  us  any 
knowledge  of  it.  Reason,  by  her  wisest  son,  Soc- 
rates, has  confessed  the  necessity  of  a  Divine  mes- 
senger to  give  it.  Without  asserting  that  it  is  not, 
either  in  whole  or  in  part,  discoverable  by  reason,  we 
know  that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  world  by  wisdom 


MIRACLES.  157 

does  not  discover  it.  God's  natural  attributes  may 
indeed  be  traced  in  his  works,  and  glimpses  of  his 
moral  attributes  may  be  obtained  from  his  provi- 
dences ;  but  what  man,  unaided  by  revelation,  has 
ever  reasoned  himself  up  to  the  unity,  spirituality, 
and  holiness  of  God,  or  found  out  by  nature  the 
scheme  of  redemption  ? 

Modern  philosophers — of  whom  Carlyle  is  an  ex- 
ample— sometimes  tell  us  that  they  have  a  revela- 
tion within  themselves,  that  their  God-created  souls 
are  Mt.  Sinai's,  and  that  thunder  all  round  the  heav- 
ens could  not  make  God's  law  more  Godlike  to  them. 
But  why  are  not  the  God-created  souls  of  the  sav- 
ages Mt.  Sinai's  also  ?  The  difference  between  the 
philosopher's  God-created  soul  and  the  cannibal's 
equally  God-created  one  is  not  by  internal,  but  by 
external,  revelation.  Moreover,  if  the  inner  light 
were  enough  for  human  guidance,  whence  the  con- 
fusion concerning  moral  truth,  the  general  depravity 
of  man,  and  the  universal  craving  for  a  revelation, 
which  the  oracles  and  altars  of  all  ages  attest  ? 

We  honor  natural  reason  within  her  legitimate 
domain.  With  all  due  respect  to  natural  ethics  and 
religion,  we  say  that  they  -are  unsatisfactory  without 
the  aid  of  faith  to  complement  and  confirm  their 
conclusions.  Instinct  is  perfect ;  reason  is  progress- 
ive. But  where  reason  has  not  drawn  from  faith, 
what  progress  has  it  made  in  morals  since  the 
creation  of  man?  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
a  sacred  nation,  in  an  obscure  corner  of  the  world, 
guarded  in  seclusion  the  deposit  of  the  truth.  Both 
before    and    after    Messiah,    the    Divine    light    was 


158  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

diffused.  Why  is  it  that  beyond  the  circle  of  the 
Church's  influence,  infanticide,  polygamy,  slavery, 
prevail,  without  private  remorse  or  public  condemna- 
tion ?  Although  the  codes  which  have  presided  over 
the  public  and  private  life  of  modern  civilized  states 
have  not  been  formed  in  synods,  yet  the  principles 
on  which  they  rest,  though  they  do  not  exceed 
reason,  are  derived  from  revelation. 

The  history  of  Europe  for  three  centuries  has  not 
been  the  mere  progress  of  the  secular  spirit,  but  its  ad- 
vance under  revelation  as  its  pillar  of  cloud  and  fire. 

Let  not  him,  who  can  not  obtain  the  knowledge 
necessary  to  guide  him  through  this  world  without  a 
teacher  sent  from  man,  be  ashamed  to  find  his  way 
to  the  next  by  a  teacher  sent  from  God. 

Fourth.  The  miracles  of  Christ  are  performed  by 
a  miraculous  agent.  He  comes  forth  at  a  remarka- 
ble period  of  preparation  and  watching  for  a  de- 
liverer. The  Greek  language  had  been  diffused,  and 
the  Roman  arms  carried  in  triumph  through  the 
world.  The  dying  Jew  said,  "  Bury  me  with  my 
shoes  on  and  my  staff  in  hand,  that  I  may  be  ready 
to  meet  Messiah  when  he  cometh."  The  living 
one  tuned  his  harp  to  «ing  of  his  approach ;  the 
sweetest  lyre  of  the  pagan  world  echoed  Isaiah's 
strains.* 

His  character  is  peculiar;  a  mingled  lion  and 
lamb,  and  both  transcendent.  His  words  of  wisdom 
and  works  of  charity ;  his  spirit  of  blended  meekness 
and  majesty ;  his  life  of  perfect  purity  and  match- 
less energy ;    of  pillowless  poverty  and  unsearchable 

*  Virgil :  Eclogue  iv. 


MIRACLES.  159 

riches  ;  of  patient  suffering  and  godlike  action  ;  of 
weeping  with  man  and  standing  with  God  ;  of  mov- 
ing in  the  lowest  social  state,  and  rising  infinitely 
above  the  highest ;  of  swaying  the  scepter  of  mercy, 
and  wielding  the  sword  of  justice  ;  of  opening  at 
once  the  gates  of  heaven  and  the  mouth  of  hell ;  of 
subordinating  even  superhuman  wisdom  and  power  to 
the  ends  of  love,  and  eclipsing  them  both  by  its  tran- 
scendent luster ;  of  renouncing  the  world,  yet  found- 
ing for  himself  a  spiritual  kingdom,  embracing  all  the 
nations  and  the  ages — is  unlike  all  else  ever  known  on 
earth,  conceived  by  philosophy,  or  celebrated  in  art  or 
song. 

His  revelation  is  unique.  What  is  its  primal,  cen- 
tral, final,  comprehensive  truth,  which  flashes  from  all 
prophecies,  blazes  from  all  altars,  and  beams  from  all 
miracles  ?  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  Look 
downward  over  this  green  earth,  the  footstool  of 
God ;  look  inward  upon  your  own  soul,  the  image  of 
God ;  look  upward  into  this  blue  sky,  the  throne 
of  God ;  listen  to  its  utterances,  as  they  come  down 
through  spaces  unmeasured  and  ages  unnumbered, 
and  say  whether  this  message  is  not  worthy  of  thine 
almighty  Father!  But  sound  all  history,  and  you 
find  nothing  like  it. 

His  method  is  divine.  His  words  have  the  charm 
of  antiquity  with  the  freshness  of  yesterday;  the 
simplicity  of  a  child  with  the  wisdom  of  God ;  the 
softness  of  kisses  from  the  lip  of  love,  and  the  force 
of  the   lightning   rending   the  tower.     His   parables 


l6o  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

are  like  groups  of  matchless  statuary  ;  his  prayers 
like  an  organ-peal  floating  round  the  world  and 
down  the  ages,  echoed  by  the  mountain-peaks  and 
plains  into  rich  and  varied  melody,  in  which  all 
devout  hearts  find  their  noblest  feelings  at  once 
expressed,  sustained,  refined.  His  truths  are  self- 
evidencing.  They  fall  into  the  soul  as  seed  into  the 
ground,  to  rest  and  germinate.  He  speaks,  and  all 
nature  and  life  become  vocal  with  theology.  The 
mustard-seed  and  the  mountain,  the  prodigal  and  the 
parent,  the  sparrow  on  the  wing  and  the  lily  of  the 
field,  are  still  his  unconscious  ministers. 

His  errand  is  divine.  We  are  not  what  we  ought 
to  be.  Sin  interposes  between  us  and  God.  Evil 
tendencies  and  painful  apprehensions,  against  which 
we  struggle  in  vain,  seize  us  ;  so  that,  to  the  awakened 
soul,  life  is  a  burden  and  death  a  terror.  Christ  comes, 
the  only  being  in  all  history  that  even  assumes  to  be 
an  adequate  and  universal  deliverer.  Opposed  by  the 
carnal  heart,  he  is  yet  the  desire  of  all  nations.  Cov- 
ered with  contempt  and  scorn,  he  nevertheless  finds 
his  way  to  kings'  palaces.  Though  sneered  at  by  phi- 
losophy, he  yet  leads  the  princes  of  science  as  little 
children.  All  other  great  men  are  valued  for  their 
lives  ;  he,  above  all,  for  his  death,  around  which  mercy 
and  truth,  righteousness  and  peace,  God  and  man, 
are  reconciled ;  for  the  Cross  is  the  magnet  which 
sends  the  electric  current  through  the  telegraph  be- 
tween earth  and  heaven,  and  makes  both  Testaments 
thrill,  through  the  ages  of  the  past  and  future,  with 
living,  harmonious,  and  saving  truth.  Other  men 
may  be  buried,  and  stay  buried.     Mankind  can  give 


MIRACLES.  l6l 

their  noblest  dead  only  a  place  in  the  cathedral's 
crypt,  a  page  in  history,  and  silence  and  forgetfulness 
more  and  more  profound  as  time  rolls  on.  Napoleon, 
dying,  said  to  Bertrand :  "  I  shall  soon  be  in  my  grave. 
Such  is  the  fate  of  the  Alexanders  and  Caesars.  I 
shall  be  forgotten ;  and  the  Marengo  conqueror  and 
emperor  will  be  a  college  theme.  I  die  before  my 
time  ;  and  my  dead  body  must  return  to  the  earth, 
and  be  food  for  worms.  Behold  the  destiny,  near  at 
hand,  of  him  who  has  always  been  called  the  great 
Napoleon!  What  an  abyss  between  my  great  misery 
and  the  eternal  reign  of  Christ,  who  is  proclaimed, 
loved,  adored,  and  whose  kingdom  is  extending  over 
all  the  earth."  Well  might  the  great  conqueror  say 
so.  But  the  world  can  not  bury  Christ.  The  earth 
is  not  deep  enough  for  his  tomb,  the  clouds  are  not 
wide  enough  for  his  winding-sheet ;  he  ascends  into 
the  heavens,  but  the  heavens  can  not  contain  him. 
He  still  lives — in  the  Church  which  burns  uncon- 
sumed  with  his  love;  in  the  truth  which  reflects  his 
image ;  in  the  hearts  which  burn  as  he  talks  with 
them  by  the  way.  There  are  suns  so  distant  that,  if 
they  were  blotted  out  to-day,  the  world  would  be 
thirty  thousand  years  in  ascertaining  the  fact.  Prac- 
tically, so  far  as  the  world  is  concerned,  they  would 
still  exist.  So  with  Christ,  Sun  of  righteousness : 
he  still  shines  ;  so  that  if  we  were  not  certified  of 
his  death,  we  might  suppose,  from  the  calls  upon  his 
name,  the  anthems  in  his  praise,  and  the  fruits  of  his 
Spirit  with  which  the  Church  is  blessed,  that  he  is 
still  on  earth.  And  so  he  is.  He  is  here  to-day. 
Wherever  the  soldier  bows  in  his  tent,  or  the  sailor  on 

15 


1 62  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

his  deck ;  wherever  the  saint  seeks  grace,  or  the  phi- 
lanthropist help ;  wherever  the  orphan  lifts  up  his 
cry,  or  the  widow  raises  her  despairing  eyes,  or  the 
father  weeps  over  his  dying  child,  or  the  heart  breaks 
under  the  weight  of  its  sins,  and  calls  on  Jesus,  he  is 
there ;  there  with  the ,  sympathies  of  man  and  the 
attributes  of  God  ;  there  to  forgive  sin,  to  fold  the 
lamb,  to  purify  the  soul,  and  to  lead  the  departing 
spirit  in  his  own  image  to  the  skies  ;  and  every  re- 
volving day  widens  the  sphere  of  mind  over  which 
his  scepter  sways  and  his  blessing  falls. 

Vain  to  call  this  character  a  myth.  It  were  easier 
for  a  rude  peasant,  without  genius  or  geometry,  or 
knowledge  of  artists  or  works  of  art,  to  produce  the 
grandest  historical  painting,  than  for  the  fishermen  of 
Galilee  to  draw  the  picture  of  our  Lord.  As  Rousseau 
has  shown,  the  myth  would  be  as  great  a  miracle  as 
the  reality.  The  line  of  cause  and  effect  must  be 
broken  to  produce  the  picture ;  why  not  to  produce 
the  reality,  and  to  group  around  the  reality  miracu- 
lous acts  ? 

Fifth.  The  miracles  of  Christ  have  produced  won- 
derful and  permanent  results.  The  Church,  in  ite 
origin,  spread,  present  prosperity,  and  prospective 
triumphs,  is  miraculous.  By  preaching  Jesus  and  the 
resurrection,  it  changed  the  religion  of  the  world.  It 
had  no  social  or  physical  force ;  no  civil  or  intellectual 
authority  ;  no  other  element  but  the  moral  and  mir- 
aculous. It  has  not  lost  its  power.  It  still  opens 
blind  eyes,  unstops  deaf  ears,  cleanses  lepers,  makes 
the  Ethiopian  white,  changes  the  lion  to  a  lamb,  and 
raises  the  dead ;  not,  indeed,  physically,  but  morally. 


MIRACLES.  163 

It  constitutes  the  coast  and  cascade  ranges  of  the 
moral  world,  condensing  upon  their  summits  the 
clouds  of  spiritual  blessing,  and  inclosing  the  only 
valley  of  earth  through  which  crystal  streams  me- 
ander among  green  pastures  to  the  city  of  God. 
Beyond,  on  one  side,  are  the  arid  sands  of  idolatry ; 
on  the  other,  the  stormy  ocean  of  unbelief.  We  may 
find  objections  to  it,  as  we  may  to  nature  when  we 
look  into  the  recesses  of  the  rocks  for  the  snake,  or 
the  depths  of  the  forest  for  the  bear;  but  when  we 
stand  upon  Mt.  Zion,  as  when  we  stand  upon  Mt. 
Hood,  to  survey  the  whole  landscape,  we  see  on  all 
its  outlines  the  hand  of  the  Almighty. 

Now,  to  sum  up  and  show  how  these  five  facts 
bear  upon  the  argument,  let  me  suppose  a  case.  Were 
you  to  tell  me  that  a  carpenter  in  Brooklyn  had  risen 
from  the  grave  the  third  day  after  his  interment,  I 
should  give  no  heed  to  your  tale,  but  let  it  pass  as  the 
idle  wind.  Bring  before  me  twelve  men,  of  unim- 
peachable character  and  good  sense,  who  make  oath 
to  the  fact,  I  should  think  them  deceived.  Prove  that 
they  could  not  be  mistaken  ;  that  they  knew  the  car- 
penter well ;  were  with  him  when  he  died,  heard  his 
last  words,  and  saw  his  breath  depart ;  that  after  his 
death  they  stood  by  while  the  surgeons  opened  his 
breast  and  examined  his  heart  and  lungs ;  that  after 
his  resurrection,  they  had  talked  with  him,  eaten  with 
him,  and  put  their  hands  into  his  open  side.  I  might 
suppose  they  had  taken  a  strong  conception  for  an 
object  of  sight.  Show  that,  instead  of  expecting  such 
a  vision,  they  were  disheartened  after  his  death ;  that 
he  had  subsequently  appeared  to  different  parties,  at 


164  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

different  times,  and,  on  one  occasion,  to  five  hundred 
and  more  at  once — I  might  think  there  was  an  anom- 
alous, mental  epidemic  prevailing.  Prove  that,  al- 
though the  proclamation  of  this  truth  was  upsetting 
the  civil  government  and  the  religion  of  the  world, 
and  charging  a  damning  crime  upon  the  Supreme 
Court,  the  body  of  the  carpenter,  which,  if  brought 
from  the  tomb  where  his  enemies  had  sealed  it, 
would  have  vindicated  the  Court,  saved  the  nation, 
and  forever  silenced  the  witnesses,  was  never  pro- 
duced,— I  might  then  suppose  that  the  witnesses  had 
themselves  concealed  the  body,  and  were  dishonest. 
Prove  that  for  their  testimony  they  had  suffered  the 
loss  of  goods,  reputation,  office,  and  that  they  were 
engaged  in  proclaiming  this  miracle  in  pain,  privation, 
and  persecution.  Lead  them  out  before  a  platoon  of 
soldiers,  and  read  them  an  order  from  government 
that  if  they  persisted  in  their  testimony  they  should 
every  one  be  shot.  If,  while  the  bullets  were  speed- 
ing to  their  mark,  they  should  joyfully  renew  the 
statement,  I  should  be  in  a  quandary.  Mind  has  its 
laws  as  well  as  matter.  It  is  contrary  to  physical 
law  that  a  dead  man  should  come  to  life  and  burst 
from  the  grave;  it  is  equally  inconsistent  with  mental 
laws  that  human  mind  should  burst  from  motive  in- 
fluence, and  reverse  its  mode  of  action.  Here,  then, 
I  should  have,  on  the  one  hand,  a  physical  miracle, 
on  the  other,  a  moral  one.  Which  I  should  choose,  I 
wot  not ;  perhaps  the  latter.  Add  another  circum- 
stance— namely,  that  the  resurrection  was  announced 
beforehand  as  a  work  of  God,  in  attestation  of  an 
indispensable  revelation  to  mankind — and  the  balance 


MIRACLES.  165 

would  incline  in  favor  of  the  natural  miracle.  At  this 
point,  prove  that  the  carpenter  was  more  than  a  car- 
penter; a  great,  a  popular,  a  blameless,  an  effective 
reformer;  a  miraculous  being;  the  antitype  of  a  long 
line  of  types,  and  the  subject  of  prophetic  song  in  all 
past  ages,  my  doubts  would  be  dissipated,  and  I 
should  cry: 

"  All  hail,  the  power  of  Jesus'  name  ! 
Let  angels  prostrate  fall ; 
Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem, 
And  crown  him  Lord  of  all." 

We  believe  more  firmly  than  the  skeptic  in  the 
uniformity  of  natural  law,  and  reject  more  promptly 
those  reports  of  isolated  miracles  performed  at  tombs, 
or  at  the  bidding  of  mendicants  or  mountebanks,  and 
which  excite  only  the  wonder  of  gaping  multitudes, 
or  the  curiosity  of  prying  historians.  But  we  believe 
in  a  moral  as  well  as  a  physical  world,  and  in  a  super- 
natural series  of  events  running  athwart  the  natural 
laws,  to  verify  a  revelation  for  the  instruction  and 
salvation  of  the  world — not  so  much  contrary  to  nat- 
ural laws,  as  according  to  higher  laws  in  a  loftier 
plane  and  for  a  nobler  purpose.  The  miracles  of 
Christ  are  but  parts  of  a  conglomerate  miracle,  of 
which  the  Jewish  dispensation  and  the  Christian,  the 
Bible  and  the  Church,  the  character  of  the  Messiah, 
and  the  doctrines,  precepts,  power,  and  results  of  the 
faith,  are  all  elements, — elements  which  we  see  and 
handle  ;  which  enter  into  practical  life  and  human  ex- 
perience ;  which  run  through  history,  and  modify  na- 
ture, whose  laws,  physiological,  mental,  and  moral,  are 
dovetailed  to  them. 


1 66  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

But  it  may  be  said,  "  You  have  only  proved  the 
miracles  of  Christ,  leaving  those  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment untouched."  That  phase  of  infidelity  which 
accepts  Christ  and  rejects  Moses  is  the  most  absurd  ; 
for  it  accepts  the  major  and  rejects  the  minor  included 
in  it.  Christ  quotes  the' books  of  the  Old  Testament 
as  of  Divine  authority.  Grant  that  he  is  divine,  and 
you  must  let  us  regard  them  so  too.  It  is  Christ  that 
says,  "  If  ye  believe  not  Moses  and  the  prophets, 
neither  would  ye  believe  though  one  rose  from  the 
dead." 

The  language  with  which  a  French  philosopher, 
Pascal,  closes  one  of  his  expostulations,  I  trust  I  may 
adopt  in  closing  this. 

Whether  this  argument  pleases  you,  and  appears 
strong  or  not,  "  know  that  it  proceeds  from  one  who, 
both  before  and  after  it,  fell  on  his  knees  before  that 
Infinite  and  Invisible  Being  to  whom  he  has  subjected 
his  whole  soul,  to  pray  that  he  would  also  subject  you, 
for  your  good  and  his  glory ;  and  that  thus  Omnipo- 
tence might  give  efficacy  to  his  feebleness." 


Lecture  VI. 


THE 


BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD. 


REV.  BISHOP  DAVIS  W.  CLARK,  D.  D., 


Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


h 


ECTURE  VI. 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD. 

"In  the  beginning,  God.1''    Gen.  I,  i. 

I  AM  challenged  to-day  to  perform  two  impossibil- 
ities. The  first  is,  to  bring  forth  a  popular  lec- 
ture upon  one  of  the  profoundest  subjects  that  ever 
occupied  the  intelligence  of  man.  The  other  is,  to 
comprehend,  in  the  discussion  of  one  brief  hour,  a 
compass  and  breadth  of  thought  that  labored  volumes 
could  scarcely  reach.  I  can  do  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other.  All  that  can  be  hoped  for  is,  that  I  shall 
skirt  along  the  coast,  taking  soundings  here  and 
there,  that,  in  the  end,  we  may  discover  where  the 
true  harbor  is. 

As  I  am  to  speak  of  the  Bible  in  its  relation  to 
God,  no  text  more  appropriate  than  its  very  first  utter- 
ance can  be  found:  "In  the  beginning,  God."  The 
alpha  and  the  omega  of  the  Bible  is  God.  It  com- 
mences with  his  being;  it  closes  with  his  benediction. 
And,  like  a  golden  thread  interweaving  the  whole  tex- 
ture and  binding  the  genesis  to  the  benediction,  is 
God.  It  is,  therefore,  not  a  far-fetched  proposition 
which  asserts  that  the  Bible  is  a  revelation  from  God. 

There  are  three  generic  problems  in  philosophy, 

169 


170  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

around  which  the  deepest  interest  has  gathered — the 
origin  and  collocations  of  matter  in  the  realm  of  na- 
ture ;  the  origin  of  man  in  the  realm  of  mind ;  and 
the  origin  of  the  Bible  in  the  realm  of  thought.  The 
last  of  these  problems  is,  however,  the  key  to  both  the 
others.     Solve  this,  and  both  the  others  become  clear. 

This  is  the  problem  that  now  claims  our  atten- 
tion. Let  us  state  the  issue,  and  confine  our  inquiry 
to  the  narrowest  limits  that  issue  will  admit.  The 
Bible  exists.  It  is  printed  in  almost  all  languages, 
and  spread  abroad  into  all  lands.  Its  wonderful  his- 
tory, and  its  still  more  wonderful  literature,  and  its 
influence  in  forming  the  character  of  men  and  shap- 
ing the  destinies  of  the  world,  are  facts  claimed  by 
Christians,  conceded  by  infidels,  and  known  to  all. 
They  form,  then,  no  part  of  the  issue  before  us. 

So  much  vantage-ground  has  the  believer  in  this 
conflict.  It  makes  the  issue  plain,  simple,  and  single. 
The  infidel,  who  would  exclude  God  from  the  author- 
ship of  the  Bible,  can  not  deny  its  existence.  He 
must,  therefore,  account  for  its  origin  in  some  other 
way.  For  him  to  assert  that  he  does  not  know  who 
its  author  was,  does  not  meet  the  case ;  because  this 
is  a  mere  confession  of  ignorance,  and  accounts  for 
nothing.  If  he  does  not  know  how  the  Bible  origin- 
ated, or  who  its  author  was,  how  does  he  know  but 
that  God  was  its  author,  and  that  it  originated  just  as 
it  claims  ?  The  whole  history  of  skepticism  shows 
how  earnestly,  and  yet  how  vainly,  it  has  sought  to  ac- 
count for  the  origin  of  the  Bible  so  as  to  exclude  God. 

It  is  a  question  vital  to  religion.  If  the  Bible  is  a 
divinely  attested  message  from  God,  then  we  find  in 


THE  BIBLE  A  RE  VELA  TION  FROM  GOD,         I J I 

it  a  solvent  of  the  mysteries  of  human  life  and  history, 
a  harmonizer  of  the  contradictions  of  philosophy,  and 
an  infallible  teacher  and  guide.  If  it  is  not  from  God, 
then  it  only  adds  another  element  of  mystery  to  that 
boundless  and  endless  maze  of  darkness  and  doubt 
from  which  humanity  may  not  hope  to  emerge  with- 
out help  from  some  higher  source.  This  is  the  prob- 
lem of  the  hour. 

I.  We  have  presumptive  proof  that  the  Bible  is  a 
revelation  from  God,  in  that  a  ivritten  revelation  is  a 
necessary  complement  of  natural  religion. 

Nature  speaks  of  God.  But  who  will  claim  that 
she  is  a  sufficient  teacher  of  God  ?  What  significant 
teaching  is  there  in  the  expression,  "  The  unsearcha- 
ble God"— handed  down  through  all  ages,  felt  in  all 
human  hearts  ! 

While  Job  is  enumerating  the  tokens  by  which 
God  is  seen  in  nature,  the  current  of  his  thought  is 
suddenly  arrested,  and  he  exclaims,  "  Lo,  these  are 
parts  of  his  ways  " — the  extremities,  the  outer  edge  of 
his  works — "  but  how  little  a  portion  is  heard  of  him?" 
or,  to  give  the  passage  a  more  true  as  well  as  forceful 
rendering,  "  What  a  whisper  of  a  word  is  heard  of 
him  ;  but  the  thunder  of  his  power  who  can  under- 
stand ?"*  There  are  intimations  of  God  in  nature. 
She  proclaims  the  great  fact  of  his  being  ;  and,  with 
unerring  finger,  evermore  points  to  him  as  her  author. 
But  these  disclosures  are  dimly  seen.  They  are  only 
glimpses  of  the  Eternal.  The  mysterious  dwelling 
of  God  in  the  universe  ;    the  workings  of  his   mind 

*  Job  xxvi,  14. 


172  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

upon  created  things  ;  the  mighty  sweep  of  his  govern- 
ment through  the  ages  ;  the  spirituality  and  eternity 
of  his  character, — have  wrung  from  the  profoundest 
explorers,  after  all  their  research  and  their  grandest 
discoveries,  the  confession,  "  Lo,  these  are  parts  of 
his  ways !" 

We  stand  only  upon  "  the  borders  of  his  works  " — 
on  the  outer  edge  of  the  creation  of  God.  The  grand 
center  is  full  of  God.  Myriads  of  intelligences  dwell 
there.  Grander  emblems  of  his  power  and  glory 
brighten  in  their  heavens,  and  speak  to  them  from  all 
his  works.  But,  alas !  there  comes  to  us  only  "  the 
whisper  of  a  word."  Go  to  him  who  has  most  pro- 
foundly explored  the  works  of  creation — the  sage, 
philosopher,  student  of  the  handy-workmanship  of 
God.  Hear  him  speak  of  his  discoveries  and  achieve- 
ments. He  has  analyzed  the  hidden  elements  of  na- 
ture ;  fathomed  the  depths  of  all  oceans  ;  measured  the 
distances  of  all  stars ;  solved  the  mysteries  of  all 
science;  the  winds  and  the  waves  obey  him  ;  the  light- 
nings bear  his  messages  across  all  continents  and 
through  all  oceans  ;  his  thought  spans  all  the  broad 
spaces  of  astronomy.  But  put  to  him  that  question 
of  profounder  moment  than  all :  "  Canst  thou,  by 
searching,  find  out  God  ?  canst  thou  find  out  the 
Almighty  to  perfection  ?"*  Mark  the  humility  of  his 
answer :  "  Lo,  these  are  parts  of  his  ways  ;  we  have 
trodden  only  upon  the  borders  of  his  works ;  and  only 
the  whisper  of  a  word  have  we  heard  of  him." 

Newton,  who  surveyed  the  amplitude  of  creation, 
and  brought  to  light  her  all-pervading,  all-controlling 

*  Job  xi,  7. 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.        1 73 

laws,  could  say  no  more  ;  Sir  Humphrey  Davy,  who, 
with  before  unknown  processes  of  science,  analyzed 
the  wondrous  compositions  of  inorganic  bodies,  trac- 
ing the  plans  and  purposes  of  the  Creator  in  each, 
could  say  no  more ;  and  Hugh  Miller,  the  Christian 
geologist,  who,  with  science  angelic,  studied  God  in 
the  earth's  formation,  could  only  rejoice  in  the  dis- 
covery of  the  "  foot-prints  of  the  Creator "  upon  the 
everlasting  rock. 

Was  man  never  designed  to  know  more  of  God 
than  this  ?  Was  it  never  intended  that  he  should 
know  how  to  approach  his  God  and  Creator?  Never 
know  how  he  might  become  like  God  ?  Never  have 
more  than  a  faint  conception  of  his  perfections  ? 
Was  it  intended  that  he  should  labor  forever  under 
the  most  painful  uncertainty  about  his  own  destiny, 
and  never  for  once  feel  the  inspiration  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  his  own  grand  immortality?  Nature  teaches 
us  much.  She  has  some  grand  lessons  her  children 
may  learn  from  her.  But  there  are  higher,  sublimer 
truths  essential  for  man  to  know,  which  she  can  not 
teach.  Turning  away  from,  or  rather,  looking  be- 
yond, all  the  teachings  of  nature,  the  human  heart 
instinctively  yearns  for  higher  and  holier  utterances. 
In  its  perplexity,  doubt  and  darkness,  it  cries  out, 
"O,  that  God  would  speak  unto  me!" 

II.  Can  God  speak  ?  Is  utterance  from  him  pos- 
sible? 

Nature  shows  the  workings  of  the  mind  of  God. 
He  embodies  his  thought  in  material  creations,  and 
through  them  speaks  to  man.     Why,  then,  may  he 


174  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

not  embody  his  thought  in  the  utterances  of  speech, 
and  thus  make  known  his  will  and  truth  to  man? 
"  He  that  planted  the  ear,  shall  he  not  hear  ?  He 
that  formed  the  eye,  shall  he  not  see?"  and,  push- 
ing the  inquiry  of  the  Psalmist  a  step  further,  "  He 
that  gave  the  power  of  speech  to  the  human  tongue, 
can  not  he  speak  ?"  To  deny  that  the  Infinite,  whose 
utterances  are  made  to  the  human  heart  and  under- 
standing through  all  the  avenues  of  material  nature, 
can  embody  his  thought  or  convey  intelligence  of 
himself  in  the  utterances  of  language,  is  equally 
inconsistent  and  absurd.  It  is,  in  fact,  to  rob  the 
Infinite  of  his  infinitude. 

III.  A  revelation,  written,  recorded  in  permanent 
form,  is  the  only  one  that  can  meet  this  demand  con- 
cerning God. 

"It  is  written,"  "written  in  the  law,"  "written  with 
the  finger  of  God,"  "  written  in  earth,"  "  written  in 
heaven,"  and  all  "written  for  our  learning,  that  we 
might  have  hope  !"  Glorious  words  are  these  !  Had 
the  Almighty  only  spoken,  and  left  his  words  unwrit- 
ten, no  matter  how  august  the  scene  when  his  voice 
was  uttered,  though  with  ten-fold  more  grandeur  than 
when  he  uttered  it  amid  the  smoke  and  black  dark- 
ness and  pealing  thunder  of  Sinai,  the  impression 
could  not  be  transferred  to  others — could  not  be 
handed  down  to  succeeding  generations ;  and  the 
unwritten  tradition  would,  in  the  lapse  of  ages, 
become  mixed  with  fable,  till  the  grandest  truths 
uttered  by  God  would  be  perverted  and  lost.  To 
such  a  peril   God  has  not   suffered  the   race   to   be 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.        I  J$ 

exposed.  To  such  an  uncertain  and  perishable  ark 
he  has  not  committed  the  destinies  of  his  own  eter- 
nal truth. 

The  written  revelation  is  the  test  of  the  unwrit- 
ten tradition.  The  one  is  ever  changing,  the  other 
ever  abiding.  "It  is  written,"  is  the  standard  and 
the  test  of  all  truth,  and  in  its  sacred  investiture  it 
shall  bear  the  truth  onward  through  all  ages  and  to 
all  people. 

IV.  If  a  revelation  from  God  be  a  necessary  com- 
plement  of  natural  religion,  in  what  written  document 
shall  we  look  for  such  revelation  ? 

Does  it  exist  ?  Where  shall  it  be  found  ?  In 
what  book  or  literature  shall  we  seek  it?  Shall  we 
go  to  the  Shasters  of  the  Hindoos  ;  to  the  Veda  of 
Brahma  ;  to  the  works  of  Confucius  ;  to  the  Zenda- 
vesta  of  the  Parsees  ;  to  the  Koran  ;  to  the  Book  of 
Mormon?  Shall  we  find  it  in  the  "Age  of  Rea- 
son ;"  in  the  rationalist's  "  System  of  Nature ;"  in 
the  boasted  "  intuitions  of  the  human  mind,"  or 
the  "internal  consciousness,"  so  strongly  asserted 
by  modern  skepticism  ?  m  Or,  shall  we  find  it  in  the 
Bible?  Who  can  doubt  for  one  moment  where, 
among  all  these,  is  to  be  found  the  true  revelation 
from  God  ?  The  Bible  stands  out  in  its  character, 
claims,  and  influence,  infinitely  above  all  the  others. 
It  distances  every  competitor.  It  is  the  only  one 
that  can  stand  the  test.  If  God  has  given  us  a  rev- 
elation, that  this  is  it  must  be  the  conviction  of  every 
intelligent  mind  and  every  uncorrupted  heart. 

The  whole  question,  then,  is  narrowed  down  to 


176  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

this  :  If  God  has  made  a  written  revelation  of  him- 
self to  the  race,  this  Bible  must  be  that  revelation. 
And  if  it  is,  then  may  we  expect  to  find  not  only 
direct  testimony  of  the  fact,  but,  in  the  Bible  itself, 
and  in  its  character,  history,  and  relations,  we  shall  be 
sure  to  find  circumstantial  and  corroborating  evidence 
that  it  is  from  God. 

V.  The  early  origin  of  the  Bible,  taken  in  connec- 
tion with  its  wonderful  character,  affords  strong  evi- 
dence that  it  is  a  revelation  from  God. 

To  say  that  the  Bible  is  the  oldest  book  extant 
of  which  we  have  any  knowledge,  is  to  make  only  a 
trite  assertion  ;  but  it  is  an  assertion  pregnant  with 
suggestive  thought.  The  writings  of  Moses  carry  us 
up  to  the  very  origin  of  our  race,  and  form  the  only 
connected  line  of  human  history  from  the  creation. 
The  Psalms  of  David,  which  contain  some  of  the 
sweetest  and  sublimest  poetry  ever  uttered  by  human 
tongue  or  recorded  by  human  pen,  were  composed 
three  thousand  years  ago.  Many  of  the  prophetic 
records  were  made  a  thousand  years  before  the  com- 
ing of  Christ.  The  earlier  portions  of  the  Bible  were 
undoubtedly  written  in  the  first  language  spoken  by 
man.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  very  first  use 
made  of  letters  was  to  record  the  revelations  of  God 
to  the  human  race.  The  very  fact  that  a  book  so 
wonderful  in  its  character — the  admiration  of  cultured 
mind  in  all  ages,  the  crowning  gem  of  all  literature — 
antedates  all  science,  all  literature,  and  almost  all 
intelligence,  is  demonstration  that  its  origin  is  higher 
than  human. 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.         IJJ 

VI.  The  survivance  of  the  Bible  as  one  of  the  liv- 
ing forces  of  the  world  is  demonstration  that  it  is  from 
God. 

The  works  of  men  crumble  and  perish  away.  The 
mightiest  productions  of  human  intellect,  however 
profound  the  impression  made,  or  controlling  their 
influence,  at  the  beginning,  will,  after  the  lapse  of 
ages,  if  not  of  years,  pass  gradually  out  of  the  current 
literature  of  the  world.  They  will  lose  their  hold 
upon  the  public  mind,  will  cease  to  be  read,  and 
their  influence  be  no  longer  discernible  among  the 
living  forces  that  mold  the  characters  of  men  and 
shape  the  destiny  of  the  world.  But  the  Bible,  this 
earliest  embodiment  of  thought,  this  earliest  record 
of  literature,  has  somehow  escaped  the  operation  of 
this  universal  law.  It  has  come  down  to  us,  not  as 
the  dry,  dead,  blackened  mummies  of  Egypt,  but  as  a 
living  force.  The  Bible  lives.  Never  before  did  it 
enter  so  largely  into  the  hopes  of  humanity  or  exert 
so  wide  an  influence  over  nations  and  men  as  in  this 
very  age.  Never  before  did  it  enter  so  largely,  not 
only  into  the  daily  reading,  of  unnumbered  millions 
of  the  race,  but  also  as  a  living  force  into  the  lan- 
guages and  literature  of  the  world.  A  tree  of  life 
for  the  healing  of  the  nations,  the  lapse  of  ages 
has  brought  no  decay  to  its  roots,  left  no  rust  upon 
its  branches,  no  blight  upon  its  fruit.  Whence  does  it 
derive  its  living  energy?  Whence  has  it  those  vital 
powers  that  forbid  it  to  die?  Whence  has  it  those 
irrepressible  energies  that  have  kept  it,  like  the  bush 

in  the  mount  of  God,  unconsumed  amid  the  flames  ? 

16 


i;8  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

Inspiration  itself  answers,  "The  Word  of  God  liveth 
and  abideth  forever."* 

VII.  The  Bible  has  also  overcome  the  opposition  of 
its  enemies,  and  survived  their  assaults  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  prove  it  incontestibly  Divine. 

No  other  book  has  ever  been  so  foully  and  so  per- 
sistently assailed  as  the  Bible.  In  this  respect,  the 
Bible  has  had  a  wonderful  history.  No  form  of  at- 
tack has  been  spared.  The  arm  of  power  has  gath- 
ered the  fagots,  and  applied  the  torch  ;  but  it  has  not 
been  consumed.  It  has  been  cast^into  the  crucible 
of  criticism,  and  tortured  in  every  conceivable  form  ; 
yet  it  would  not  die.  Infidelity  has  exhausted  the 
arsenals  of  unsanctified  wit,  and  croaking  hypocrisy 
and  damnable  heresy  have  spread  around  it  the  pes- 
tiferous mildew  of  their  breath  ;  but  it  has  come  forth 
from  its  thousand  conflicts  triumphing  alike  over  the 
open  assaults  of  implacable  foes  and  the  machinations 
of  pretended  friends.  Popery  has  not  been  able  to 
chain  it ;  the  devil  has  not  been  able  to  destroy  it. 

Infidelity  and  false  science  have  traveled  the  world 
over  to  explore  the  archives  of  history,  to  find  some 
traces  back  of  the  Mosaic  chronology,  which  might 
show  the  Bible  history  to  be  a  fiction.  Heathen  tra- 
ditions have  been  consulted  ;  the  chronological  myths 
of  the  East,  purporting  to  extend  thousands  of  years 
anterior  to  the  creation,  have  been  brought  forward  ; 
ancient  astronomical  calculations,  whose  dates  were 
fixed  long  before  sun  or  moon  or  stars  began  their 
courses    in    the    heavens,    have    been    sought    out ; 

*  i  Peter  i,  23. 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.         1 79 

obscure  hieroglyphics,  inscribed  on  enduring  obelisks, 
have  been  tortured  to  draw  from  them  something 
inimical  to  the  Bible  records ;  the  most  abstruse 
mathematical  calculations  have  been  made  to  falsify, 
if  possible,  the  Mosaic  history  ;  the  bowels  of  the 
earth  have  been  penetrated,  and  nature  forced  to 
yield  up  the  secrets  of  her  birth,  in  the  vain  hope  of 
discovering  something  which  might  give  the  lie  to 
her  Author. 

All  these  objections  to  the  Bible  have  been 
brought  forward  again  and  again.  They  have  been 
reiterated  with  an  audacious  boldness  and  insisted 
upon  with  a  pertinacity  almost  transcending  human 
belief.  This  has  been  no  ordinary  ordeal  through 
which  the  Bible  has  passed.  Had  it  not  been  founded 
in  truth  and  had  God  for  its  protector,  it  could  not 
have  survived  the  conflict.  But  the  very  weapons  of 
its  enemies  have  been  turned  against  themselves. 
Even  heathen  traditions,  when  traced  back  along  the 
converging  lines  toward  their  origin,  present  a  thou- 
sand coincident  features  arresting  the  attention  of 
archaeologists,  and  tending  to  confirm  the  Word  of 
God.  The  boasted  chronological  and  astronomical 
records  of  antiquity,  when  founded  in  fact,  and  when 
truly  interpreted,  have  been  found  coincident  with  the 
Bible,  instead  of  being  in  antagonism  to  it. 

Along  the  frontiers  of  every  science,  infidelity  has 
planted  its  standard  and  raised  its  bulwarks  against 
the  Bible.  But  as  scientific  knowledge  has  advanced, 
it  has  been  obliged  to  surrender  one  stronghold  after 
another,  till  no  place  is  left  on  which  it  can  rest,  ex- 
cept in   the  regions  of  conjecture   and    speculation. 


180  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

The  Bible,  assailed  by  wicked  men  through  all  ages, 
has  fought  its  way  down  along  the  line  of  opposing 
forces,  and  to-day  it  comes  forth  from  its  last  conflict 
as  it  did  from  its  first — bearing  no  scar  or  wound, 
with  no  singe  of  fire  upon  its  garments,  and  no  per- 
turbations upon  its  brow.  Like  Milton's  Angel,  it  is 
immortal  in  every  part. 

Take  the  last  bold  venture  of  modern  rationalism, 
which  claims  that  all  higher  forms  of  life  are  derived 
from  the  lower  forms  by  a  series  of  developments 
requiring  unnumbered  ages  for  their  completion,  and 
thus  on  down  to  the  very  lowest  form  of  life,  scarcely 
distinguishable  from  the  inanimate  lump  of  earth  out 
of  which  it  springs.  Marvelous  philosophy!  But 
who  made  the  clod  that  produced  the  polypus,  that 
begot  the  monkey,  that  made  the  man  ?  Who  put 
the  lump  of  earth  there  ?  Force,  do  you  say  ?  But 
what  is  this  mysterious,  intangible  force  ?  When, 
where,  how,  did  it  originate  ?  What  the  fulcrum  on 
which  it  plants  its  lever  ?  How  can  it  account  for 
the  work  of  creation,  when  it  is  not  accounted  for 
itself?  How  can  it  solve  the  mysteries  of  nature 
when,  if  it  has  any  thing  real  in  it,  it  is  the  most 
mysterious  of  all  things  in  nature  ?  What  unmiti- 
gated effrontery  is  it  that  propounds  such  a  scheme 
as  this,  unsustained  by  a  single  fact  in  all  history,  or 
by  a  single  discovery  in  all  science !  A  generation 
has  hardly  passed  since  this  new  "  instauration  of 
philosophy  "  undertook  to  solve  the  mysteries  of  cre- 
ation, yet  it  is  fast  becoming  a  by-word  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  very  inquiries  into  the  Bible  ac- 
count of  creation,  provoked  by  these  attacks,  gather 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.         l8l 

around  that  account,  from  history,  from  science,  and 
from  philosophy,  the  sublimest  attestations  of  its  truth. 
What  intellect  was  that  which  enthroned  the 
Bible,  in  the  very  morning  of  time,  in  advance  of  and 
above  all  science  and  all  philosophy,  so  that  the  ages 
bow  down  to  it  with  reverence  ?  What  inherent 
power  is  it  that  has  given  the  Bible  its  double  tri- 
umph over  the  unholy  passions  and  the  depraved 
intellects  of  men  ?  The  first  utterance  of  revelation, 
"  In  the  beginning,  God,"  has  stood  the  test  of  ages. 
It  is  the  beginning  of  all  history,  the  seed-thought 
of  all  philosophy.  You  must  uproot  this  before  you 
can  invalidate  the  authority  of  the  Bible. 

VIII.  The  entire  freedom  of  the  Bible  from  false 
science  and  fictitious  history  is  no  small  evidence  that 
it  is  a  revelation  from  God. 

The  Bible  was  not  intended  to  be  a  summary  of 
human  history,  but  of  the  plans  and  dealings  of  God 
with  humanity.  It  was  not  designed  to  teach  science 
or  philosophy,  but  religion.  Its  mission  was  to  the 
race.  Its  communications,  therefore,  must  be  con- 
veyed not  in  the  precise,  technical  terms  of  science, 
but  in  the  language  current  among  men. 

Science,  through  thirty  centuries,  has  been  search- 
ing out  her  facts,  and  molding  and  remolding  her 
theories  in  every  department  of  human  knowledge. 
But  though  human  interpreters  have  had  oft  occasion 
to  modify  their  commentaries  on  the  sacred  text,  yet 
the  old  record  stands  to-day  unimpeached.  The 
knowledge  of  the  earth's  form  and  its  topography  has 
been  wholly  reconstructed  and  boundlessly  enlarged ; 


1 82  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

the  facts  of  history  have  been  more  fully  investigated  ; 
but  no  rashness  of  utterance  on  the  part  of  the  Bible 
in  regard  to  things  unknown,  can  be  found  to  weaken 
its  authority  or  expose  it  to  contradiction.  Even 
when  the  Ptolemaic  system  of  astronomy  gave  way 
to  the  Copernican,  and  Galileo  stamped  his  foot  upon 
the  earth,  exclaiming,  "Nevertheless,  it  moves!"  he 
was  not  warring  against  the  Bible  itself,  but  against 
the  glosses  of  mistaken  commentators,  who  had  failed 
to  understand  it.  Now  mark  this  fact :  The  Bible 
was  written  long  before  science  had  given  rise  to  any 
theory,  or  formed  a  nomenclature,  or  been  enriched 
by  any  of  the  great  facts  of  her  later  discovery.  But 
it  contains  no  statement,  no  allusion  even,  that  is  con- 
tradicted by  them.  It  does  not  employ  any  form  of 
phrase  that  could  be  even  improved  by  any  of  the 
discoveries  of  modern  science.  The  most  that  can  be 
said  of  it,  or  against  it,  is  that  it  employs  the  "lan- 
guage of  the  common  people." 

The  Veda  and  the  Shasters  of  the  Hindoos  have 
not  escaped  this  danger.  The  authors  of  these  sacred 
books  were  ignorant  of  the  form  and  geography  of 
the  earth ;  ignorant  of  many  facts  in  the  history  of 
the  race.  They  were  without  a  knowledge  of  the 
true  solar  system.  Hence,  they  hazarded  statements 
about  the  form  of  the  earth,  the  system  of  the  uni- 
verse, the  ages  of  empire,  and  the  lives  of  men,  that 
harmonized  with  the  traditions  and  mythologies  of 
their  age,  but  have  been  found,  by  later  discoveries  in 
science  and  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  human  his- 
tory, to  be  utterly  unfounded  in  fact.  Put  a  com- 
mon school  geography,  or  the  simplest  treatise  upon 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.         1 83 

astronomy,  or  any  well-composed  work  on  ancient  his- 
tory, into  the  hands  of  an  intelligent  Hindoo,  and  in 
just  so  far  as  he  comes  to  the  knowledge  of  their 
facts,  he  is  compelled  to  give  up  his  faith  in  his  Shas- 
ters.  It  is  for  this  very  reason  that  these  sacred 
books  are  losing  all  their  authority  among  the  intelli- 
gent and  inquiring  of  the  people. 

Compare,  also,  the  Koran  with  the  Bible.  What 
the  Bible  once  uttered  was  uttered  for  all  races  and 
all  time.  The  emergencies  of  the  moment  never 
affect  its  principles.  The  crises  of  an  empire  never 
turn  it  back  upon  itself;  never  even  divert  it  from  its 
main  design. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  author  of  the  Koran  con- 
formed his  instructions  to  his  followers ;  not  to  any 
deep  and  broad  underlying  principle,  but  to  the  press- 
ing necessities  of  the  moment.  Hence,  he  was  com- 
pelled frequently  to  recall  what  he  had  once  promul- 
gated, and  to  suppress  what  he  had  once  proclaimed. 
Thus,  the  Koran  is  not  only  filled  with  false  philosophy 
and  historical  untruths,  but  it  is  in  itself  "  one  compli- 
cated mass  of  irreconcilable  contradictions."  Skeptics 
have  pronounced  it  the  great  religious  rival  of  the 
Bible.  It  is  the  cripple  entering  the  lists  against  an 
athlete,  only  to  suffer  defeat  in  every  possible  encounter. 

Look  at  the  Bible.  It  spreads  over  a  wider  range 
of  history,  looking  into  the  future  as  well  as  recording 
the  past.  It  is  more  definite  in  its  account  of  crea- 
tion, more  specific  in  its  wondrous  scheme  of  Salva- 
tion. How  happens  it  that  it  has  escaped  the  rock 
on  which  the  systems  of  false  religions  have  split  ? 
There  is  but  one  answer  that  can  be  given,  and  that  is, 


1 84  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

its  Author  held  in  his  hand  the  key  of  all  knowledge. 
Not  only  is  there  an  absence  of  false  science  and 
history  in  the  Bible,  but  there  are  the  most  wonder- 
ful confirmations  of  even  its  most  remarkable  facts, 
brought  to  light  in  the  investigations  of  philosophy. 
The  mistakes  of  the  Hindoo  astronomy,  which  would 
have  given  the  lie  to  the  Bible,  have  been  exposed  and 
rendered  harmless.  Explorations  in  the  crust  of  the 
earth's  surface  confirm  the  Bible  history  of  the  origin 
of  man,  by  showing  that  it  dates  among  the  later  geo- 
logical periods.  They  also  demonstrate  that  the  order 
in  which  the  elements  were  organized  in  the  earth's 
formation,  and  in  which  vegetable  and  animal  life 
were  developed,  was  precisely  that  recorded  in  the 
Bible.  The  traditions  of  all  nations  confirm  the  fact 
of  the  Mosaic  deluge.  The  Egyptian  hieroglyphics 
confirm  the  exodus  of  Israel.  Pagan  oracles  have 
been  demonstrated  to  be  only  perversions,  or  rather 
imitations,  of  the  utterances  of  God  to  the  patriarchs, 
prophets,  and  kings  of  his  chosen  people.  Nineveh 
rises  from  the  grave  to  confirm  the  prophecies  of  Na- 
hum  and  Zephaniah  ;  Babylon  rises  to  confirm  Isaiah 
and  Daniel.  The  scientific  generalization  of  the 
races  of  the  human  family  brings  us  back  to  the  Bible 
account  of  Shem,  Ham,  and  Japhet.  There  are 
more  than  two  hundred  different  languages,  and  dia- 
lects almost  innumerable,  yet  scientific  analysis  traces 
all  forms  of  language  back  to  one  common  type,  thus 
illustrating  the  confusion  of  tongues,  and  making  the 
tower  of  Babel  a  historical  reality. 

Science  not  only  brings  to  light  confirmations  of 
the  Bible  in  the   ages  past,   but  points   forward   to 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.         1 85 

possible  confirmations  in  the  ages  yet  to  come.  Her 
theories  of  human  progress  are  a  prediction  and  a 
proof  of  the  coming  millennium.  The  "  lost  pleiad  " 
from  the  heavens  is  also  a  foreshadowing  of  the  de- 
struction of  our  own  world  by  fire. 

Nor  is  this  all.  In  this  age  of  skepticism  and 
infidelity,  when  the  strongholds  of  the  Christian's 
hope  have  been  so  ruthlessly  assailed,  God  seems  to 
have  especially  come  forth  for  the  vindication  of  his 
Word.  A  voice  has  been  given  to  the  very  desola- 
tions of  the  earth.  The  buried  and  long-lost  cities 
that  perished  beneath  the  curse  of  God,  and  whose 
desolation  was  so  entire,  and  their  very  sites  so  long 
lost,  that  infidelity  had  come  to  question  whether  they 
ever  existed,  have  been  exhumed  from  the  grave  of 
ages.  They  have  come  up  from  their  dusty  beds,  with 
the  cerements  of  the  charnel-house  wrapped  around 
them,  and,  before  all  men,  utter  their  irresistible  testi- 
mony to  the  truth  of  God.  Infidelity  and  skepticism 
stand  aghast  at  the  spectacle,  while  the  believer  joins 
in  the  mighty  acclaim,  "  Great  and  mighty  art  thou, 
O  Lord  God,  and  fearful  are  the  judgments  thou  hast 
executed  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  I" 

IX.  The  harmony  of  the  various  parts  of  the  Bible, 
blending  together  so  as  to  make  it  not  merely  homoge- 
neous, but  an  absolute  unit,  is  demonstration  that  one 
ruling  mind  gave  it  conception,  and  one  master  genius 
molded  its  form,  however  numerous  the  instruments 
employed  in  its  development. 

The  Bible  is  made  up  of  sixty-six  different  books, 
written  in  different  ages,  and   by  forty-five  different 

17 


1 86  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

authors.  And  what  is  peculiar  in  the  whole,  each 
one  of  all  those  authors,  separately,  voluntarily,  and 
for  himself,  surrenders  the  right,  the  honor,  and  the 
prerogative  of  authorship,  and  only  professes  to  write 
as  he  is  "  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  There  is  in- 
contestable evidence  that  there  was  only  one  Great 
Designer,  who  contrived  the  whole  plot,  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end,  and  who  directed  the  execution 
of  all  the  parts. 

From  the  time  that  the  record — "In  the  begin- 
ning, God" — was  made,  nearly  sixteen  hundred  years 
elapsed  before  the  "Amen"  of  the  Apocalypse  was 
uttered.  During  that  time,  what  changes  marked  the 
world's  history  !  Fifty  generations  lived  and  died  ; 
dynasties  and  kingdoms  rose  and  fell ;  cities,  walled 
and  mighty,  perished  utterly,  and  were  forgotten  ; 
new  languages  and  new  literatures  received  the  im- 
press of  new  forms  of  thought,  and,  in  turn,  gave  new 
forms  to  the  thought  and  culture  of  the  age ;  the 
very  face  of  nature  was  changed,  and  regions  once 
populous  became  barren  and  desolate.  But  none  of 
all  this  change  reached  up  to  the  source  whence  the 
Bible  sprung. 

It  starts  out  with,  "  In  the  beginning,  God  ;"  and 
every  note  struck  thenceforward  down  through  the 
ages,  was  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  key-note  struck 
in  the  beginning.  Its  instruments  were  many ;  their 
gifts  and  culture  and  external  surroundings  were  end- 
lessly varied.  But,  behold  !  What  a  wonder !  The 
spirit,  scope,  and  teachings  are  the  same  in  all  ages ! 

Though  this  sublime  temple  of  revelation  was  so 
many  ages  in  going  up,  and  employed  so  many  and 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.         1 87 

various  workmen,  and  its  parts  were  wrought  out  in 
divers  places — one  in  Mesopotamia,  another  in  Egyyt, 
most  of  them  by  the  mountains  and  lakes  of  Palestine, 
and  the  last  on  the  isle  of  Patmos — yet  all  these  parts, 
when  brought  together,  harmonize  into  one,  demon- 
strating that  it  had  only  one  Architect  from  beginning 
to  end.  Creation  does  not  more  clearly  indicate  one 
Creator  than  the  Bible  one  Author,  whose  thought  and 
purpose  and  plan  run  through  it  all.  One  spirit  only 
pervades  the  sacred  Volume,  and  that  spirit  is  divine. 
The  volume  of  nature  and  the  volume  of  revelation 
point  to  a  common  authorship.  You  may  as  well 
claim  that  man  is  the  author  of  the  one  as  of  the 
other. 

This  thought  is  all  the  more  striking  when  we 
come  to  compare  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New. 
Unlike,  and  yet  alike,  they  fulfill  their  peculiar  func- 
tions in  perfect  harmony.  The  one  is  the  counterpart 
of  the  other.  The  one  is  the  preliminary,  the  other 
the  completion.  All  through  the  New  Testament 
there  are  vast  ranges  of  preliminaries  assumed.  In 
the  Old  Testament  all  these  preliminaries  are  found 
recorded,  each  one  pointing  forward  to  something 
yet  to  come.  In  this  harmony  of  the  Old  and  the 
New  Testaments,  the  whole  structure  of  revelation 
stands  complete. 

You  have  seen  buildings,  partially  completed,  so 
arranged  that,  while  present  emergencies  are  met, 
future  enlargement  and  a  more  perfect  structure  are 
indicated.  This,  you  perceive,  entered  into  the  de- 
sign of  the  architect  at  the  beginning.  The  building 
as  it  now  stands  lacks  symmetry,  lacks  completeness; 


1 88  INGHAM  LECTURES 

something  is  to  be  added.  There  are  projecting 
stones  and  sunken  mortises  along  the  angles  and 
at  one  end.  The  thought  flashes  upon  you  that 
the  building  is  to  be  enlarged  in  this  direction. 
The  new  is  to  be  matched  upon  the  old.  These 
projecting  stones  are  to«  be  mortised  into  the  new 
structure,  and  similar  projections  in  the  new  build- 
ing are  to  reach  back  and  fill  these  mortises  in  the 
old.  By  this  means  the  old  and  the  new  are  to  be 
dovetailed  together,  and  made  to  constitute  one  great 
building. 

Such  were  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments. 
The  Old  Testament,  with  prophetic  jetties  reaching 
forward  into  the  future,  finds  its  counterpart  in  the 
New ;  and  the  two  together  complete  the  symmetry, 
strength,  and  unity  of  the  whole  building.  Whoever 
was  the  author  of  the  former,  most  evidently  antici- 
pated the  latter,  even  in  its  most  delicate  minutia. 
Not  one  of  the  projecting  stones  in  the  partial  struc- 
ture of  the  Old  Testament  but  enters  into  its  appro- 
priate mortise  in  the  New.  The  inspired  writers  of 
the  New  Testament  constantly  recognize  this  fact. 
Hence  the  oft-repeated  expressions  :  "  That  it  might 
be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the  prophet ;"  "  As 
it  was  written  in  the  prophets ;"  "  As  the  Holy  Ghost 
spake  by  the  mouth  of  the  prophet ;"  "  The  Scripture 
can  not  be  broken ;"  and  so  forth.  There  is  a  striking 
significance  in  that  declaration  of  our  Lord,  that  "one 
jot,"  the  least  letter  in  the  Hebrew  alphabet,  or  "one 
tittle,"  the  minutest  point  in  Hebrew  writing,  "shall 
in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law,"  the  old  dispensation, 
"till  all  be  fulfilled."     Every  projecting  stone  enters 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.  1 89 

into  its  appropriate  mortise,  and  the  building  stands 
complete. 

Whence  this  sublime  harmony  that  pervades  the 
Bible  in  all  ages ;  its  history,  so  accredited  and  true ; 
its  prophecies,  so  far  reaching  and  yet  so  complete 
in  their  fulfillment ;  its  religious  truths,  so  lifted 
up  above  the  range  of  human  intellect,  and  yet  so 
accordant  with  man's  deepest  and  holiest  intuitions ; 
its  great  doctrines  of  Providence  and  grace,  so  unlike 
any  thing  that  ever  fell  from  the  lip  of  sage  or  phi- 
losopher, and  yet  so  in  harmony  with  God's  world 
and  man's  necessities  ;  its  great  decalogue,  born  of 
God  before  literature  was  formed  or  history  was 
written,  an  embodiment  of  moral  precepts  that  has 
commanded  the  homage  of  the  learned  and  the  good 
in  all  ages,  and  which  no  subsequent  age,  however 
cultured  and  refined,  has  ever  been  able  to  equal, 
much  less  to  surpass  ?  What  is  there  in  all  this 
that  can  be  regarded  as  man's  work  ?  Could  the  un- 
aided intellect  conceive  so  wondrous  a  scheme  ?  Or, 
if  its  conception  were  possible,  how  could  frail,  dying 
man  inaugurate  and  carry  forward  a  scheme  so  stu- 
pendous, requiring  ages  for  its  development,  employ- 
ing and  controlling  agencies  so  innumerable  and  so 
diverse,  and  working  out,  among  all  people  and  in  all 
ages,  results  so  grand  and  far-reaching?  Impossi- 
ble !  simply  impossible !  It  would  be  scarcely  less 
absurd  to  say  that  the  vast  machinery  of  material 
nature  was  guided  by  human  brain  and  impelled  by 
human  muscle. 

Listen  to  the  music  of  the  spheres,  as  they  roll 
along  in  their  boundless  orbits  through  the  regions 


I90  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

of  space.  How  harmonious  their  concerts  ;  how  sweet 
the  blending  of  all  their  notes ! 

"  Forever  singing  as  they  shine, 
The  hand  that  made  us  is  divine !" 

We  listen;  we  wonder;- we  adore.  That  wondrous 
harmony  proclaims  that  the  God  of  nature  is  one. 
Turn  to  revelation :  from  every  book  and  chapter 
and  verse  ;  from  every  revelation,  stretching  through 
a  period  of  four  thousand  years, — there  comes  up  in 
responsive  harmony  the  proclamation,  "  All  Scripture 
is  given  by  inspiration  of  God."  "  In  the  beginning, 
God,"  is  no  less  the  formula  of  revelation  than  of 
creation. 

X.  There  are  certain  analogies  betiveen  nature  and 
revelation,  ivhick  indicate  a  common  author. 

Whatever  comes  from  God  bears  the  impress  of 
his  character.  His  thought  pervades  alike  his  word 
and  his  work.  There  is  comprehensiveness  of  plan, 
perfectness  of  adaptation,  unity  of  design,  together 
with  a  mysterious  mastery  of  means,  which  are  ever 
more  reaching  forward  and  working  to  bring  about 
predetermined  ends.  This  point  can  be  made  more 
palpable  by  a  direct  comparison  of  some  common 
traits  of  nature  and  of  the  Bible,  showing  how  both 
bear  the  finger-marks  of  God. 

1.  In  both  there  is  the  most  surprising  and  wo?i- 
detful  adaptations. 

Nature  is  so  perfectly  adapted  to  man,  that  no 
one  can  fail  to  discover  the  fitness  between  the  two. 
For  man  the  day  and   the  night  succeed  each  other, 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.         191 

bringing  seasons  of  labor  and  of  rest.  For  him  the 
earth  brings  forth  its  flowers  and  its  fruits.  Had 
there  been  perpetual  darkness,  where  would  have 
been  the  use  for  the  eye  ?  Had  the  earth's  crust 
been  covered  with  one  unbroken  sheet  of  ice,  like 
an  immense  glacier,  it  would  have  been  totally  un- 
adapted  to  man.  But  we  see  every-where  innumera- 
ble adaptations,  great  and  small — adaptations  wonder- 
ful beyond  our  thought ;  and  the  further  we  advance 
in  the  study  of  nature,  and  the  more  minute  our  ex- 
amination, the  more  real  and  wonderful  will  these 
adaptations  appear.  They  are  infinite  in  number  and 
infinite  in  variety. 

Turn  to  revelation.  You  there  find  this  same 
wonderful  adaptation.  To  our  intellectual  nature, 
how  complete  the  adaptation  of  the  Bible ;  power 
to  quicken  the  thought,  to  hallow  the  emotions,  to 
kindle  the  imagination,  to  enlarge  the  conceptions, 
and  to  develop  and  perfect  his  power  of  utterance. 
To  man  as  an  individual,  conscious  that  a  few  years 
ago  he  was  not,  and  in  a  few  years  more  he  will  not 
be,  yearning  to  know  for  what  purpose  he  is  here, 
and  what  is  to  become  of  hini  in  the  future,  the 
Bible  comes  with  its  lessons  of  immortality  ;  for  the 
victim  of  sin,  the  child  of  sorrow,  here  is  deliverance 
from  sin,  and  joy  of  heart.  It  comprehends  all  neces- 
sities, is  adapted  to  all  conditions,  from  the  cradle  to 
the  grave! 

We  think  it  wonderful  that  the  solid  earth  is 
adapted  to  one  class  of  animals,  the  air  to  another, 
and  the  sea  to  a  third  ;  but  how  much  more  wonder- 
ful are  the  endlessly  varied  and  perpetually  continued 


192  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

adaptations  of  the  Bible !  John  Williams,  the  early 
and  eminent  missionary  of  the  South  Sea  Islands, 
gives,  in  his  biography,  a  striking  incident  in  point. 
The  British  ship-of-war  Seringapatam  was  cruising 
in  those  waters,  and  the  officers  desired  to  see  what 
effect  religion  had  wrought  upon  the  natives,  and 
especially  to  hear  them  express  their  views  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  Bible  in  their  own  way.  Among  the 
questions  asked  was  this:  "Why  do  you  believe  the 
Bible  is  the  Word  of  God,  and  that  Christianity  came 
from  him  ?"  Several  answers  were  given.  After  a 
while  the  question  was  repeated  to  an  old  and  shrewd 
pagan  priest,  who  had  been  converted  and  become  an 
ardent  student  of  the  Bible.  Instead  of  replying  to 
it  at  once,  he  held  up  his  hands,  and  rapidly  moved 
the  joints  of  his  wrists  and  fingers ;  he  then  opened 
and  shut  his  mouth,  and  closed  these  singular  actions 
by  raising  his  leg  and  moving  it  in  various  directions. 
Having  done  this,  he  said :  "  See,  I  have  hinges  all 
over  me.  If  the  thought  grows  in  my  heart  that  I 
wish  to  handle  any  thing,  the  hinges  in  my  hands 
enable  me  to  do  so  ;  if  I  want  to  utter  any  thing,  the 
hinges  of  my  jaws*  enable  me  to  say  it ;  and  if  I 
desire  to  go  anywhere,  here  are  hinges  in  my  legs 
to  enable  me  to  walk.  My  body  is  just  adapted  to 
the  wants  of  my  mind.  When  I  look  into  the  Bible, 
I  see  there  are  proofs  of  adaptation  which  corre- 
spond exactly  with  those  which  appear  in  my  body  ; 
I  therefore  conclude  that  the  Maker  of  my  body  is 
also  the  Author  of  that  Book."  What  more  conclu- 
sive argument  could  be  drawn,  to  prove  that  the 
Author  of  nature  and  of  the  Bible  is  one  f 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.         1 93 

2.  In  both  nature  and  the  Bible  there  are  anticipa- 
tions of  and  preparations  for  coming  events,  wliicJi 
could  spring  only  from  the  infinite  knowledge  of  God. 

The  broad  prairies  that  lie  untilled  and  waste  are 
a  prophecy  of  the  hand  that  shall  cultivate  them  in 
the  ages  to  come.  The  vast  mineral  resources  hid 
away  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  the  riches  of 
the  great  sea,  were  so  many  prophecies  of  coming 
generations  of  men,  who  should  delve  in  the  mine 
and  traverse  the  ocean.  The  immense  beds  of  coal 
stored  away  in  the  earth,  what  were  they  but  a 
prophecy  of  generations  of  men  that  should  live  far 
off  in  the  future,  and  a  preparation  for  them  when  the 
primeval  forests  have  been  cleared  away  ?  While  the 
rich  soil  was  designed  to  produce  bread  for  the 
eater,  the  coal  deposit  was  designed  to  provide  fuel 
for  the  dwelling ;  and  each  is  an  anticipation  of  the 
future.  Thus,  in  all  the  creation  of  God,-  "  one  thing 
is  set  over  against  another." 

The  same  thread  of  anticipation  and  preparation 
runs  through  the  whole  Bible.  As  in  nature  there 
are  events  beyond  the  reach  of  unaided  intellect,  never 
dreamed  of  before  in  science  or  philosophy,  so  in  the 
Bible  there  are  events  which  no  human  experience 
could  suggest,  and  no  earlier  facts  of  history  lead  us  to 
expect.  The  ark  was  built  while  yet  no  cloud,  visible 
to  the  human  eye,  shaded  the  heavens  ;  but  its  grand 
mission  was  to  bear  the  elements  of  a  better  civiliza- 
tion to  a  new  world  this  side  of  the  flood.  The 
gauze-like  threads  floating  in  the  mottled  contents  of 
the  egg-shell  are  prophetic  of  a  strong  wing,  that  shall 
erelong  come  forth  to  cleave  the  clouds  and  scale  the 


194  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

heavens.  So  all  along,  in  Jewish  altar  and  sacrifice 
and  most  holy  place,  we  behold  the  gauze-like  threads, 
the  mystic  prophecy  of  the  strong  wing,  that  was  to 
bear  our  humanity  heavenward  in  the  Gospel  day. 

Amid  all  the  sublime  symbols  of  the  temple  and 
the  altar,  who,  among  all  the  earlier  generations  of 
men,  had  any  adequate  conception  of  the  wondrous 
work  of  redemption  upon  the  cross  of  Calvary  ?  Yet 
the  whole  plan  runs  like  a  thread  along  the  whole 
line  of  revelation,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end. 
Its  key-note  was  struck  amid  the  anguish  and  dark- 
ness of  the  fall  ;  its  final  harmony  is  blended  with 
the  song  of  the  angels  of  God.  Such  anticipations 
of  the  great  and  mysterious  events  of  the  future, 
whether  in  nature  or  in  revelation,  have  foundation 
evidently  in  God's  great,  underlying  law :  One  God, 
one  universe,  one  humanity !  Such  far-reaching  in- 
sight, such  unerring  anticipation  of  events  hidden  far 
away  in  the  bosom  of  the  future,  belongs  not  to  the 
philosophy  of  the  earth  ;  it  is  a  revelation  from  the 
skies. 

3.  The  same  great  law  of  gradual  development  or 
growth  that  characterizes  nature,  is  also  manifest  in 
revelation. 

"All  created  nature  is  in  the  process  of  develop- 
ment. From  the  solid  and  sterile  rock  up  to  the 
ethereal  seraph,  you  see  movement,  transition,  eleva- 
tion, progress."  God  might  have  created  an  oak 
complete,  instead  of  having  it  grow  up  from  the 
acorn  ;  he  might  have  created  the  man  instead  of 
the  infant ;  but  he  leaves  the  one  to  become  the 
outgrowth  of  the  other.     So  it  is  with  the  kingdom 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.         1 95 

of  heaven.  It  is  the  mustard-seed  sown  in  the 
earth.  He  sheds  upon  it  the  light  and  warmth  of 
his  Spirit ;  the  dews  of  heavenly  grace  fall  upon  it 
and  quicken  it  into  life  ;  the  vigor  of  his  truth  gives 
it  strength.     Thus  it  grows  up. 

The  mineral,  the  vegetable,  the  animal,  the  intel- 
lectual, the  spiritual,  are  only  so  many  successive 
grades  of  ascent  in  the  wonderful  creative  energy  of 
God.  The  acorn  grows  into  a  mighty  oak.  The 
full-blown  rose  is  but  the  unfolded  petals  bursting 
into  a  higher  life.  The  eaglet's  wing,  whose  micro- 
scopic fibers  are  scarcely  discernible  floating  in  the 
shapeless  fluids  of  the  egg-shell,  shall  yet  soar  ma- 
jestically through  the  air,  bidding  defiance  to  cloud 
and  storm.  The  feeble  and  helpless  child  infolds 
manhood  in  all  its  strength  and  glory. 

What  is  here  suggested  in  the  natural  world  is 
revealed  and  confirmed  in  the  Bible.  The  processes 
of  development  in  the  natural  world  have  their  coun- 
terpart in  the  spiritual.  The  resemblance  is  so  pre- 
cise, the  two  schemes  interlacing  at  so  many  points, 
fitting  as  exactly  as  the  bone  is  fitted  into  its  socket, 
that  no  one  can  doubt  that  both  had  a  common  origin, 
and  that  the  one  was  made  for  the  other.  One  God, 
one  universe,  one  Bible  ! 

4.  Again,  there  is  a  oneness  in  the  mode  in  which 
nature  and  the  Bible  impart  knowledge,  which  clearly 
indicates  that  they  are  parts  of  one  great  plan,  having 
a  common  Author. 

They  both  simply  indicate  practical  facts,  without 
assigning  a  reason,  or  attempting  to  explain  the  inner 
being,  cause,  or  mode  of  any  of  them.     Nature  gives 


I96  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

us  water  to  drink  and  be  refreshed,  but  does  not  stop 
to  explain  how  or  why.  She  gives  us  light,  and 
allows  us  to  open  our  eyes  and  behold  her  glories  ; 
but  the  philosophy  of  the  solar  ray  she  leaves  us  to 
study.  Ages  pass  by  before  we  have  advanced  so 
far  in  that  philosophy  -as  to  know  that  seven  dis- 
tinct colors  are  blended  into  one  to  make  the  solar 
ray.  Nor,  when  we  have  made  the  discovery,  have 
we  made  any  practical  addition  to  the  value  of  light. 
So  Christianity  gives  us  facts.  The  Bible  announces 
God ;  but  the  mysteriousness  of  his  being  and  eter- 
nity, it  does  not  attempt  to  explain.  It  teaches  the 
facts  of  the  fall — sin,  redemption,  regeneration,  adop- 
tion, resurrection,  heaven ;  but  it  takes  no  pains  to 
disclose  the  philosophic  element  that  underlies  and 
pervades  all  these  truths.  It  does  not  even  take 
pains  to  explain  the  harmony  that  exists  among 
them  all.  The  Bible  and  nature  stand  side  by  side. 
Each  one  says,  Here  are  my  facts,  use  them ;  then 
study  them.  Wonderful  is  this  harmony!  What 
shall  we  say  of  these  two,  but  that  they  are  twin 
ministers,  receiving  their  commissions  from  one  com- 
mon Source  ? 

5.  Inexhaustibleness  is  also  characteristic  alike  of 
nature  and  of  revelation,  as  it  is  of  nothing  else. 

We  can  soon  reach  the  bottom  of  the  works  and 
thoughts  of  man,  and  comprehend  all  they  contain. 
The  author  is  finite,  and  a  finite  mind  may  compre- 
hend his  work.  But  when  we  come  to  the  works  of 
the  Infinite  One,  we  are  struck  with  their  inexhausti- 
bleness. All  our  discoveries  in  the  natural  world 
are  so  suggestive  of  undiscovered  wonders  which  lie 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.        1 97 

beyond,  so  suggestive  of  new  and  more  wonderful 
problems  yet  to  be  solved,  that  we  deem  ourselves 
only  to  have  made  an  advance,  but  never  to  have 
reached  the  bottom.  The  broader  our  survey  of  the 
material  universe,  the  more  absolutely  limitless  and 
beyond  finite  comprehension  it  seems.  Even  a  single 
drop  of  water  embodies  forms  of  life  wonderful  and 
innumerable,  suggesting  how  inexhaustible  nature  is. 
And  so  it  is,  also,  with  the  Bible.  Its  profound 
depths  have  never  yet  been  fathomed  by  finite  mind, 
while  portions  and  passages  open  up  to  the  reader 
new  beauties  and  sublimer  truths,  even  at  the  thou- 
sandth perusal.  The  art  of  Christopher  Wren  and 
the  philosophy  of  Bacon  we  may  exhaust  and  go 
beyond ;  but  go  far  as  we  may  in  the  study  of 
nature  or  of  revelation,  we  find  that  the  lines  of 
thought  in  each  stretch  out  in  perfect  harmony,  like 
parts  of  one  great  whole,  limitlessly  beyond  our  far- 
thest advance.  What  other  conclusion  can  we  reach, 
but  that  both  are  the  productions  of  one  Infinite 
Mind  ? 

XI.  The  Bible  only  has  given  us  the  true  idea  of 
God,  and  this  is  a  presumption  of  its  being  a  revelation 
from  himself. 

The  intuitions  of  the  human  mind  suggest  God ; 
reason  demonstrates  him.  But  who,  unaided  by  rev- 
elation, can  comprehend  him  ?  The  King  of  Syra- 
cuse proposed  this  question  to  Simonides,  "What  is 
God  ?"  The  sage  desired  a  day  to  consider  the 
question.  On  the  morrow  he  asked  for  two  days 
more.     When    they  were   ended,   he   asked   for  four 


I98  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

days,  then  eight  days,  and  so  on,  doubling  the  num- 
ber  each    time..   The    King   became   impatient,   and 
demanded   the  reason   for  this   delay.     The  sage  an- 
swered,   "  It    is    because    the    more    I    consider    the 
question,  the  more  obscure  and  difficult  it  appears." 
Greece  had  a  wonderful  history.     She  had  Aristotle 
and  Plato ;  she  had  Thucydides  and  Pheidias  ;  she  had 
Demosthenes  and  Homer ;  philosophy,  profound  and 
far-reaching ;    history,   that   has  furnished   the   world 
with    models;    art,   admired   and   copied  in  all  ages; 
eloquence,  entrancing,  vehement,  omnipotent;  poetry, 
the  vibrations   of  whose  melodies  will  cease  only  as 
the  earth's  pulses  stand  still ;    a  language  and  litera- 
ture,  sparkling   with    classic    beauty,    and    rich    with 
classic    lore.      She    had    her    conquering    Alexander. 
But    she    had    no    God  !     Saturn,    her    oldest    deity, 
devoured   his   own    children.     Jupiter   dethroned    his 
father,  and  became  sovereign   of  gods  ;    but  his  life 
was  a  history  of  corruption   and  debauchery.     Juno, 
his  wife,  was  a  vixen  and  a  shrew,  and  yet  a  goddess. 
Venus,  his  daughter,  was  the  patroness  of  all  licen- 
tiousness ;  Bacchus,  the  patron  of  wine  and  drunken- 
ness ;    Mercury,   expert  as  a   thief,  and  a  god  of  all 
thieves  ;  Mars  and  Bellona,  patrons  of  war  and  blood. 
These  be  thy  gods,  O,  Reason  !  O,  Philosophy ! 

But  behold,  away  back  in  the  dim  antiquity  of 
the  race — ages  before  Grecian  art  or  culture  had  be- 
ing— here  is  an  outcast  child,  drifting  in  a  frail  ark 
down  the  Nile !  He  is  saved  from  the  waters  and 
the  crocodiles  only  to  become  first  a  foundling,  then 
a  slave.  Then,  when  grown  to  manhood,  kindling 
at  the  wrong  inflicted  upon  one  of  his  race,  he  smites 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.         1 99 

the  oppressor,  and  goes  forth  a  fugitive  into  the  desert, 
branded  as  a  murderer.  Tell  me,  how  did  this  poor 
wanderer  among  the  wastes  of  Arabia  gather  that 
knowledge  of  God,  to  which  Grecian  culture  and 
art  and  philosophy  utterly  failed  even  to  make  the 
faintest  approach  ?  Nay,  how  was  it  that  he  should 
have  grasped  conceptions  of  God  upon  which  no  sub- 
sequent age  has  been  able  to  improve,  and  which  all 
subsequent  revelations  have  only  confirmed  ?  Where, 
in  what  literature,  ancient  or  modern,  can  you  find  a 
substitute  for  that  grand  conception  of  God,  as  the 
one  Lord  and  Father,  spiritual,  holy,  almighty,  eter- 
nal ?  Mark  how  he  appears  to  Moses,  as  he  is  shel- 
tered in  the  cleft  of  the  rock  from  the  overwhelming 
glory  of  the  Divine  presence :  "  And  the  Lord  de- 
scended in  the  cloud,  and  stood  with  him  there,  and 
proclaimed  the  name  of  the  Lord.  And  the  Lord 
passed  by  before  him,  and  proclaimed,  The  Lord,  the 
Lord  God,  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering  and 
abundant  in  goodness  and  truth ;  keeping  mercy  for 
thousands,  forgiving  iniquity  and  transgression  and 
sin,  and  that  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty  ;  visit- 
ing the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children, 
and  upon  the  children's  children,  unto  the  third  and 
fourth  generation."*  Can  any  thing  be  more  sublime, 
more  true  ?  In  what  age  of  the  world,  and  among 
what  people  or  race,  did  poet  or  philosopher  ever 
originate  conceptions  of  God  so  grand  or  so  true  as 
this  poor  fugitive  was  made  the  vehicle  of  com- 
municating to  the  race  ?  From  this  old  Bible,  then, 
lifting  up  its  voice  in  the  gray  dawn  of  the  world,  we 

*  Exodus  xxxiv,  5-7. 


200  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

have  the  grandest  utterance  of  God  that  has  ever 
fallen  upon  human  ear.  How  can  this  be,  unless  God 
himself  spoke  ? 

XII.  The  Bible  has  done  more  to  keep  alive  the 
idea  of  God,  and  make  that  idea  felt  and  active,  than 
all  other  causes  combined. 

It  utterly  ignores  the  theories  of  philosophy ;  pays 
little  respect  to  the  arguments  of  the  naturalist ;  but, 
by  a  sort  of  magnetism  peculiar  to  itself,  it  touches 
the  intuitions  of  the  heart,  and  the  soul  recognizes 
that  it  is  God  who  speaks.  The  Bible  does  not 
demonstrate  God,  but  it  is  full  of  God.  You  need 
no  other  proof  that  the  sun  is  shining  than  to  look 
at  it.  You  can  not  commune  with  the  Bible  without 
the  felt  presence  of  God.  Among  Oriental  fables, 
we  read  of  a  mirror  with  such  wonderful  properties 
that  to  one  looking  into  it  distance  and  time  were 
annihilated ;  things  past,  present,  and  future  could 
be  seen  with  equal  distinctness  ;  and  objects  invisi- 
ble to  human  sight,  and  too  grand  for  human  com- 
prehension, were  brought  to  view.  What  was  fiction 
with  the  pagan  has  become  fact  with  the  Christian. 
Such  a  mirror  he  has  in  the  Bible.  It  sweeps  the 
whole  range  of  creation,  and  reveals  God  every-where. 
Under  the  reflections  of  this  wonderful  mirror,  "the 
heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  firmament 
showeth  his  handiwork."  He  is  seen  walking  among 
the  constellations  ;  giving  brightness  to  every  sun- 
beam ;  giving  the  landscape  its  verdure,  the  rose  its 
beauty  ;  whispering  in  the  gentle  breezes  of  evening  ; 
feeding  the  young  ravens  when  they  cry  ;   providing 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.        201 

pasture  for  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills ;  utter- 
ing his  voice  in  the  thunder ;  going  forth  upon  the 
dark  bosom  of  the  tempest,  and  making  the  winds 
and  the  waves  his  messengers.  Creation  becomes 
instinct  with  a  new  life  ;  God  appears  not  merely  in 
its  majestic  worlds,  moving  through  the  cycles  of 
uncounted  ages  ;  but  in  the  flitting  of  a  wing,  as 
well  as  in  the  fall  of  a  world  ;  for  even  the  spar- 
row has  the  notice  and  care  of  God.  It  reveals 
God,  present,  living,  active — threading  all  the  mazes 
of  human  history  and  shaping  the  destinies  of  all 
events,  from  the  beginning  of  creation  to  the  end  of 
time.  The  grandest  creations  of  the  human  imagina- 
tion are  unequal  to  such  a  result  as  this.  None  of 
them  have  ever  been,  none  of  them  can  ever  be,  so 
impregnated  with  God.  The  great  lessons  and  the 
grand  pictures  of  the  Bible  abide  from  age  to  age. 
They  speak  to  all  generations  and  all  ages.  They 
never  become  obsolete,  never  become  old  ;  they  are 
like  God,  living  and  eternal.  Theism  can  not  die 
while  the  Bible  lives.  Atheism  with  the  Bible  be- 
comes impossible.  The  theories  of  philosophy  and 
.the  arguments  of  the  schools,  however  conclusive, 
may  fail  in  their  power  to  convince  ;  they  have  no 
key  with  which  to  reach  the  heart ;  but  human  con- 
science must  respond  to  the  Bible  revelation  of  God. 
Pantheism  may  resolve  God  into  an  airy  abstraction, 
deny  his  personality,  banish  him  from  creation  or 
confound  him  with  it;  but  the  moment  the  Bible 
appears,  God  stands  forth,  personal,  active,  mighty. 
The  Bible  formula — "In  the  beginning,  God" — places 

him  at  once  in  immediate  contact  with  human  beings 

18 


202  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

as  their  great  Creator  and  Lord.  "It  appeals  to  the 
eye,  the  ear,  the  imagination,  the  intellect,  the  heart, 
and  enshrines  God  in  the  most  vivid  conceptions  and 
the  deepest  sentiments  of  the  human  soul."  It  enters 
into  all  the  interests  of  humanity,  fires  the  heart  with 
the  loftiest  aspirations,-  lays  before  it  the  grandest 
work,  and  appeals  to  it  with  the  noblest  motives. 
This  is  not  the  sphere  of  philosophy.  Human  phi- 
losophy has  never  yet  risen  so  high.  It  is  not  human 
teaching,  but  Divine. 

XIII.  The  truths  revealed  in  the  Bible  are  above 
the  range  of  the  human  intellect,  and  such  as  human 
reason  could  never  have  discovered. 

Many  of  these  truths  are  of  profound  and  abiding 
moment.  They  permeate  all  philosophy  and  endure 
through  all  time  ;  and  though  they  are  essential  to 
man's  nature,  yet  his  unaided  reason  never  discovered 
them.  Take  a  single  grand  truth,  the  priceless  rev- 
elation of  the  Bible,  that  God  is  one,  and  that  the 
universe  is  not  the  offspring  of  chance,  nor  a  result- 
ing condition  of  an  endless  development  of  previous 
states,  but  the  work  of  His  hands,  and  so  the  object 
of  His  almighty,  fatherly,  ceaseless  care.  Take  a 
single  commandment,  the  first  commandment  of  all, 
and  the  second,  which  grows  out  of  it,  "  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself," — in  these  two  pri- 
mary and  capital  truths  is  the  foundation  of  all  re- 
ligious duty,  sentiment  and  action.  They  confront 
us  every-where,  surround  us  evermore,  permeate  all 
doctrines  and  all  duties,  and  at  once  bind  the  whole 
race  together  in  one  common  brotherhood,  and  point 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.        203 

them  all  to  the  love  and  care  of  one  common  Father. 
"  In  the  revelation  of  them  is  an  evidence  of  the 
Divine,  which  may  be  seen  and  read  of  all  men. 
And  until  it  can  be  explained  how  these  grand 
truths,  which  neither  the  East  nor  the  West  discov- 
ered, which  escaped  the  earnest  searchings  of  Zoro- 
aster, with  his  profound  Magian  philosophy,  which 
dawned  not  upon  the  soaring  intellect  of  Plato,  and 
which  was,  in  fact,  hidden  to  all  philosophy ;  until  it 
is  explained  how  these  truths,  so  solemn  and  yet 
so  salutary,  defying  the  utmost  scrutiny  of  the  mere 
intellect  of  man,  and  yet,  when  sent  down  from 
heaven,  harmonizing  with  all  his  clearest  concep- 
tions, and  loftiest  aspirations  ;  until  it  is  explained 
how  these  great  truths,  thus  lying  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  noblest  minds  of  the  race,  were,  or  could  be 
elaborated  out  of  the  thoughts  of  Moses  himself, — 
until  then,  I  shall  not  think  it  unreasonable  to  recog- 
nize in  these  truths  and  these  facts  a  light  from 
heaven,  an  instance  of  Divine  interposition,  a  proof 
of  the  Divine  origin,  and  an  illustration  of  the  high 
worth  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible."* 

XIV.  The  doctrines  of  religion  which  originated 
in  the  Bible,  and  are  taught  by  the  Bible,  are  evidently 
above  human  invention. 

The  human  mind  never  originated  them — never 
could  have  originated  them.  Human  philosophy 
never  taught  them.  They  are  above  and  beyond  the 
scope  of  both.  For  the  most  part,  indeed,  human 
philosophy  has  stood  apart  from  the  Bible  and   its 

*"The  Divine  in  Christianity,"  pp.  59,  60. 


204  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

teachings,  and  ofttimes  been  in  antagonism  to  both. 
It  did  not,  therefore,  originate  either,  even  if  it  had 
power  to  do  so. 

But  these  doctrines  are  interwoven  with  the  facts 
of  history.  The  same  is  true  of  the  miracles  of  the 
Bible.  The  doctrines,  the  miracles  and  the  history, 
were  all  recorded  by  the  same  hand.  They  are  all 
blended  into  the  same  system,  and  have  become  con- 
jointed  parts  of  one  great  building.  Now,  if  we  ac- 
cept the  history,  as  we  must,  then  almost  inevitably 
the  miracles  are  conjoined  with  it;  and  these  together 
become  the  "two  witnesses"  who  attest  that  the  doc- 
trines are  of  God. 

Then,  too,  these  doctrines  of  grace,  holiness, 
heaven,  bear  the  impress  of  God.  Nowhere  in  them 
is  there  to  be  found  such  limitation  as  always  char- 
acterizes the  finite  mind,  or  such  defects  as  inevitably 
inhere  in  imperfect  natures.  They  admit  no  excep- 
tion, but  extend  to  all.  They  are  applicable  to  all 
races  and  peoples,  and  sweep  down  through  the 
ages,  a  boon  and  a  blessing  for  every  generation  and 
every  individual.  The  wonder — "  God  manifest  in 
the  flesh" — was  as  surely  born  in  heaven  as  it  was 
heralded  by  angels  to  earth.         *     - 

Thus  we  are  made  to  feel,  as  the  first  converts 
of  Christianity  said,  "  Satan  never  devised  those  doc- 
trines, man  never  wrought  those  miracles."  And  thus 
are  we  driven  back  to  God.  His  is  the  word,  his  the 
work !  One  is  the  document,  the  other  the  seal.  If 
the  seal  shows  the  finger  of  God,  it  demonstrates 
that  the  document  is  from  God.  If  the  document 
comports  with  the  seal,  as  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.        205 

do  comport  and  harmonize  with  its  miracles  and  its 
history,  then  the  two  mutually  strengthen  and  confirm 
each  other,  and  the  demonstration  that  both  are  from 
God  is  complete. 

XV.  Finally,  I  know  that  the  Bible  must  be  from 
God,  because  it  is  the  great  intellectual  regenerator  of 
the  race,  as  no  other  work  is  or  can  be. 

Most  works  of  human  authorship  have  but  a  lim- 
ited influence  and  an  early  death.  A  few  in  their 
own  specific  departments  have  attained  to  distin- 
guished honor  and  brought  forth  grand  results.  But 
even  these  were  limited  in  their  sphere,  and  not  one 
of  them  could  survive  the  slow  wasting  of  the  ages. 
What  human  genius  has  not  attempted,  and  what  it 
must  have  failed  to  accomplish,  if  it  had  attempted, 
the  Bible  has  actually  done.  In  its  practical  lessons, 
it  discovers  to  us  how  intimately  our  personal  inter- 
ests are  associated  with  those  great  truths  and  agen- 
cies by  which  God  is  leading  our  humanity  onward 
to  its  final  destiny. 

The  Bible,  setting  aside  all  questions  of  its  Divine 
authenticity,  of  its  inspiration,  and  even  of  its  theol- 
ogy, stands  before  us  in  the  light  of  fact  as  the  intel- 
lectual regenerator  of  the  race.  This  pre-eminence  is 
assured  by  the  purity  and  truth  of  its  philosophy,  and 
by  that  inspiration  of  its  genius  through  which  the 
minds  of  men  are  quickened  with  intellectual  vigor. 
And  to  these  must  be  added  the  sublime  earthly,  as 
well  as  heavenly,  destiny  it  reveals  to  man. 

It  embodies  history  the  most  wonderful,  spanning 
the  entire  cycle  of  the  race,  from  the  birth  of  creation 


206  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

to  its  apocalypse  ;  ethnography,  the  most  minute  and 
accurate,  challenging  the  profoundest  deference  of  the 
archaeologist  and  antiquarian ;  biography,  the  most 
thrilling  and  instructive,  giving  portraitures  of  char- 
acters, with  a  distinctness,  fullness,  and  beauty,  no 
human  skill  can  equal ;  civil  polity,  laws,  and  jurispru- 
dence, which  not  only  transcend  the  wisest  legislation 
of  the  time,  but  furnish  the  germ  and  the  model  of  all 
that  is  humane  and  just  and  noble  in  the  enlightened 
legislation  of  the  most  enlightened  nations  and  periods 
of  the  world  ;  delineations  of  the  domestic  affections 
and  virtues,  such  as  ennoble  humanity,  and  enchant, 
by  their  simplicity,  truthfulness,  and  purity;  patriot- 
ism, love  of  country  and  people,  such  as  led  the 
world's  first  great  statesman  and  legislator  to  choose 
to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of  God  rather  than 
to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wickedness,  such  as  girded 
with  might  the  sword  of  David,  and  inspired  his  songs 
with  undying  melody,  such  as  hallowed  the  tears  of 
Jeremiah,  and  kindled  the  eloquence  of  Isaiah  ;  prov- 
erbs for  instruction,  maxims  for  the  regulation  of 
human  conduct,  and  oracles  to  clear  away  the  dark- 
ness of  human  reason,  which,  for  pertinence,  for  adap- 
tation, force,  and  universal  applicability,  are  unequaled 
in  the  uninspired  literature  of  the  world  ;  eloquence, 
the  most  impassioned  and  sublime;  poetry,  soaring 
on  seraphic  wing  into  sublime  altitudes  unreached  by 
Milton  or  Young ;  moral  virtues  and  aesthetic  beauties, 
such  as  human  philosophy,  confessing  its  own  impo- 
tence, can  only  wonder  at  and  admire,  without  attempt- 
ing to  rival ;  science,  comprehending  mysteries  of  the 
earth  and  the  heavens,  before  which,  even  after  the 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.        20y 

lapse  of  six  thousand  years,  all  mere  human  philoso- 
phies pale  into  insignificance  ;  theologies,  teachings  of 
God,  bringing  within  the  range  of  human  cognizance, 
Him  that  filleth  all  things  with  his  fullness  and  glory ! 
It  is  thus  that  Divine  revelation  sweeps  across 
every  field  of  human  thought,  and  underlies  every 
interest  of  human  life.  The  Bible  is  not  a  mere 
lesson-book  of  duty,  nor  yet  a  mere  manual  of  the- 
ology. Had  it  been  such,  and  no  more,  a  hundredth 
part  of  the  present  volume  would  have  been  all  that 
was  required.  Such  a  book  would  not  have  been 
diversified  by  varied  and  thrilling  history,  nor  by 
sublime  imagery  and  wonderful  announcements  of 
prophetic  inspiration,  such  as  have  proved  in  all  ages 
a  bulwark  against  the  rude  assaults  of  infidelity,  and 
are  a  standing  demonstration  of  the  truth  of  revela- 
tion, growing  stronger  and  more  convincing  as  the 
ages  roll  on,  and  at  the  same  time  making  the  Bible 
a  book  of  unceasing  study  and  criticism,  to  sound  its 
depths  and  unravel  its  meaning.  Nor  would  it  have 
contained  those  sacred  songs  that  so  move  the  hearts 
of  men,  nor  those  fascinating  stories,  beautiful  narra- 
tions, striking  fables,  proverbs,  and  parables  so  attract- 
ive to  the  fancy  of  the  young,  and  so  rich  in  practical 
wisdom  for  the  common  people.  Thanks  be  to  God 
that  he  has  given  us,  not  the  lesson-book,  but  the  Bi- 
ble !  The  former  would  have  fallen  still-born  and 
powerless  ;  it  would  have  been  forgotten  ages  ago. 
But  the  Bible  is  the  life-thought  of  the  world.  It  is 
replete  with  all  that  can  excite  the  fancy  or  give  wings 
to  the  imagination ;  all  that  can  refine  the  taste,  en- 
noble the  affections,  and  enlarge  the  intellect ;  all,  in 


208  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

fine,  that  can  call  forth  the  sublimest  thoughts,  pre- 
sent the  grandest  motives  of  action,  and  enkindle  the 
loftiest  expectation  in  the  illimitable  future.  It  enters 
into  all  thought  and  all  feeling,  and  is  allied  to  all  in- 
terests, earthly  and  heavenly.  It  is  just  such  a  book 
as  must  be  read,  will  be  read.  It  will  travel  through 
all  lands,  dwell  among  all  people,  find  a  home  in  all 
languages,  permeate  all  thought.  However  skeptical 
and  unbelieving  men  may  be,  they  can  not  ignore  the 
Bible.  It  confronts  them.  They  must  read  it,  if  it 
be  only  to  learn  how  to  combat  its  doctrines  and 
claims ;  they  must  study  it,  if  it  be  only  to  join  in 
the  vain  effort  for  its  overthrow.  The  very  study  and 
effort  to  destroy  it  will  only  cause  it  to  penetrate  still 
more  deeply  into  the  world's  thought,  and  imbed  it 
still  more  firmly  in  the  literature  of  all  ages.  Thus 
the  very  efforts  of  infidelity  to  destroy  the  Bible  only 
cause  it  to  strike  its  roots  still  deeper  into  the  earthly 
soil,  where  it  shall  live  and  grow  forever. 

St.  Paul  rejoiced  that  Christ  was  preached,  even 
though  it  was  done  by  some  "  of  envy  and  strife." 
So  say  I  of  the  Bible.  Let  skeptics  and  the  false 
and  deceiving  philosophers  of  the  day  read  and 
study  the  Bible,  though  it  be  only  for  envy  and 
strife,  though  it  be  only  to  cavil  at  its  truths  and 
claims ;  yet  "  I  therein  do  rejoice,  yea,  and  will 
rejoice ;"  for  I  know  that  by  it  all,  the  Bible  will 
be  only  the  more  firmly  intrenched  in  the  thought 
and  life  of  the  world. 

There  is  no  department  of  taste  or  thought,  or 
culture  or  art,  that  has  not  felt  the  invigorating  power 
of  the  Bible.     It  has  furnished  some  of  the  grandest 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVELATION  FROM  GOD.        209 

themes  for  the  sculptor,  the  painter  and  the  musical 
composer,  in  all  ages  ;  it  has  given  to  the  great  mas- 
ters their  inspiration,  and  they,  in  turn,  have  laid 
their  grandest  trophies  at  the  foot  of  the  cross. 

The  Bible  contains  some  of  the  sublimest  poetry, 
which  the  most  gifted  of  our  race  have  ever  found  un- 
approachable in  beauty  and  grandeur.  But  this  is  not 
all.  It  has  actually  furnished  the  material,  the  sub- 
jects, and  even  the  thought,  for  the  sublimest  poems 
in  the  literature  of  the  world.  The  sacred  songs  that 
enliven  the  worship  of  Christian  temples  in  all  lands, 
find  their  source  and  fountain-heatl  in  the  songs  of 
David,  written  three  thousand  years  ago.  Who  does 
not  recognize  this  every- where  in  the  sacred  hymns 
of  Watts  and  Wesley,  of  Montgomery  and  Cowper, 
of  Heber  and  White  ?  Even  Byron's  gifted  but 
wayward  muse  kindled  with  unwonted  fervor  and 
grace,  as  he  sung  anew  the  "  Hebrew  Melodies." 
Strike  out  from  the  sacred  song  of  the  ages  all  that 
had  its  origin  in  this  old  fountain,  and  there  would 
be  little  left  to  touch  the  heart  or  inspire  the  faith. 
The  voice  of  melody  would  become  silent  in  the 
temples  of  God  and  in  the  dwellings  of  the  saints. 

Then,  too,  see  how  largely  all  poets  have  drawn 
upon  the  Bible  for  their  subjects,  their  materials,  and 
their  inspiration.  u  Paradise  Lost,"  the  great  epic 
of  the  world,  had  never  enthroned  its  author  as 
the  master  of  song,  but  for  the  inspiration  drawn 
from  the  Bible.  Pollok's  "  Course  of  Time ;"  the 
"  Messiah,"  of  Klopstock ;  the  "  Night  Thoughts,"  of 
Young  ;  Tasso's  "  Jerusalem  Delivered  ;"  Dante's  "  In- 
ferno ;"    Burns's  "  Cotter's  Saturday  Night ;"  Scott's 

19 


210  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

"  Hebrew  Maid  ;"  and  Moore's  "  Song  of  Miriam," — 
are  only  a  few  of  the  examples  that  might  be  cited. 
Thus,  in  the  poetry  of  all  ages  and  all  languages,  we 
find  every-where,  mingling  in  the  song,  notes  bor- 
rowed from  the  sacred  poets  of  Israel. 

Shakspeare  has  been  claimed  to  be  the  most  orig- 
inal of  the  poets.  And  so  he  was.  But  in  almost 
every  scene  and  act  of  Shakspeare  there  are  gems 
gathered  from  the  Bible,  to  deck  the  bright  concep- 
tions of  his  own  genius.  Do  you  question  this? 
Let  me  cite  a  few  of  the  many  examples.  The 
blood  of  Abel  crying  from  the  ground  for  justice; 
the  three-score  years  and  ten  as  the  measure  of 
human  life  ;  the  sleeping  of  the  righteous  dead  in 
Abraham's  bosom  ;  the  fearful  thing  of  being  blotted 
from  the  Book  of  Life  ;  the  camel  threading  the  eye 
of  the  needle  ;  the  serpent  as  the  tempter ;  the  min- 
istering angel  from  heaven  ;  the  "  All  hail "  of  Judas  ; 
the  dropping  of  manna  from  the  skies  ;  the  mote  and 
the  beam  in  the  eye  ;  the  wail  of  the  Jewish  mothers 
over  the  slaughtering  of  the  infants  ;  Pilate  washing  his 
hands  to  remove  the  foul  stain  of  murder ;  the  grand 
remedy  of  redemption  for  souls  forfeited  ;  the  peace- 
maker's blessing  ;  the  voice  of  wisdom  crying  in  the 
streets, — are  so  many  of  the  samples  of  the  imagery 
and  language  borrowed  by  Shakspeare  from  the  Bible. 
Thus,  the  great  dramatist  of  the  world  was  scarcely 
less  indebted  to  the  Bible  than  was  the  author  of  the 
grand  epic  of  the  Fall  of  Man.  And  who  will  not 
say  that  both  these  grand  authors  were  immensely 
enriched  by  that  indebtedness  ? 

The  Bible,  it  is  true,  does  not  undertake  to  teach 


THE  BIBLE  A  REVEL  A  TION  FROM  GOD.         2 1 1 

science,  just  as  it  does  not  undertake  to  teach  paint- 
ing or  poetry.  One  has  said,  "  The  Bible  has  no 
mission  to  teach  philosophy  how  to  cast  her  meas- 
uring-lines into  the  sea,  or  sink  her  shafts  into  the 
heart  of  the  earth,  or  stretch  her  telescopes  through 
the  untrodden  fields  of  space."  But,  after  all,  it  does 
have  to  do  with  science  as  well  as  with  art.  It  is  the 
moving  spirit,  the  upheaving  energy,  that  has  stimu- 
lated the  discoveries  of  science,  and  shed  its  benign 
radiance  upon  the  brilliant  pathway  of  her  explora- 
tions, even  in  the  material  universe.  Why  is  it  that 
in  no  age  has  science,  or  the  arts  of  industry,  or  the 
economies  of  life,  or  the  humanities  of  society  or  of 
legislation,  made  any  essential  progress  without  the 
Bible  ?  Why  is  it  that,  in  all  ages,  this  reviled, 
scorned,  hated  book  has  stood  at  the  head  of  the 
science  and  the  literature  of  the  world  ? 

Have  we,  indeed,  come  up  here  to  the  fountain- 
head,  the  great  inspirer  of  all  thought,  and  the 
source  of  all  human  progress  ?  Do  we  here  find 
the  great  orb  of  light  in  the  intellectual  heavens, 
whose  beams  shine  from  pole  to  pole  ?  Who  but 
God  himself  could  set  it  in  the  heavens,  and  sustain 
it  there,  undimmed  in  its  glory,  from  age  to  age  ? 

And  now,  young  gentlemen,  having  presented 
these  few  initial  points,  which,  to  every  unprejudiced 
mind,  must  be  decisive  of  the  great  question  before 
us  ;  having  seen  that  God  is  at  once  in  the  Bible 
and  the  Author  of  the  Bible,  just  as  he  is  in  crea- 
tion and  the  Author  of  it ;  and  that  the  Bible,  by 
the  comprehensiveness  of  its  plans,  the  marvelous 
variety  of  its  adaptations,  the  wonderful  resources  of 


212  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

its  power,  and  the  sweep  of  its  influence  down  along 
the  line  of  human  history,  is  worthy  of  its  author 
and  equal  to  the  grandeur  of  its  mission, — we  can  not 
better  close  these  remarks  than  in  the  exultant  lan- 
guage of  Kepler,  when,  with  rapt  soul,  he  contem- 
plated one  of  the  sublime  laws  of  astronomy,  just 
then  disclosed  to  human  intelligence:  "The  wisdom 
of  the  Lord  is  infinite,  as  are  also  his  glory  and  his 
power.  Ye  heavens,  sing  his  praises  ;  sun,  moon,  and 
planets,  glorify  him  in  your  ineffable  language !  Praise 
him,  celestial  harmonies,  and  all  ye  who  can  compre- 
hend them  !  And  thou,  my  soul,  praise  thy  Creator  ! 
It  is  by  him  and  in  him  that  all  exist.  What  we 
know  not,  is  contained  in  him,  as  well  as  our  vain 
science.  To  him  be  praise,  honor,  and  glory,  forever 
and  ever !" 

This,  young  gentlemen,  is  language  not  copied 
from  any  sentimental  or  doctrinal  work  of  the  Church. 
It  is  not  the  exultant  triumph  of  Christian  joy  ;  but 
it  is  the  outgushing  homage  of  science  itself,  and 
expressed  by  one  whose  laws  circle  the  earth  and 
comprehend  the  heavens.  If  in  your  college  curric- 
culum  it  shall  be  your  ennobling  privilege  to  try  to 
follow  the  pathway  of  the  immortal  Kepler  among 
the  globes  of  light,  tread  that  sacred  ground  with  the 
same  reverent  recognition  of  God.  Return  from  it 
rejoicing  in  the  great  central  truth  of  all  science,  as 
well  as  of  all  revelation,  "  that  it  is  by  him  and  in 
him    that  all  exists." 


Lecture  VII. 


SCRIPTURE    INSPIRATION 


REV.  WILLIAM  F.  WARREN,  D.  D., 

President  of  the  School  of  Theology  of  Boston  University, 

Boston,  Massachusetts. 


p 


,ECTURE  VII. 
7URE  INSPIRATION. 


THE  theme  assigned  for  to-day's  lecture  is  the  In- 
spiration of  the  Bible.  It  is  a  high  theme.  It 
is  one  of  vital  interest  to  every  Christian,  yet  diffi- 
cult of  treatment  apart  from  the  technicalities  of  the 
schools.  Our  time  is  short.  Omitting  all  introductory 
formalities,  allow  me  to  limit  and  define  the  discussion 
by  first  stating  a  few  points,  respecting  which  I  shall 
assume  a  perfect  agreement  at  the  outset. 

And,  first  of  all,  I  assume  that  a  man  is  not  a  beast. 
I  shall  take  it  for  granted  that  you  claim  for  yourselves 
and  for  your  kind  a  spiritual  nature.  You  do  not  be- 
lieve with  Moleschott,  that  "thought  is  a  movement  of 
matter,"  nor  with  Karl  Vogt,  that  "  the  thoughts  stand 
in  the  same  relation  to  the  brain  as  gall  to  the  liver 
or  urine  to  the  bladder."  If  any  man  chooses  to  hold 
such  language  as  this,  we  have  many  other  questions 
to  settle  with  him  before  coming  to  that  of  Scripture 
inspiration.  Perhaps  I  should  rather  say  that,  if  any 
creature  in  human  shape  shall  be  pleased  to  profess 
himself  nothing  different  from  a  brute,  it  will  be  emi- 
nently fitting  to  postpone  all  argument  with  him  until 
he  shall  become  a  man.  Lunatics,  we  are  told,  should 
never  be  contradicted. 

215 


2l6  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

I  assume,  secondly,  that  there  is  a  personal  God, 
who  has  created  man  and  given  him  his  spiritual  na- 
ture. And  I  assume  that,  in  making  man,  this  Divine 
Being  did  not  forever  exhaust  himself,  and  sink  into 
an  eternal  swoon.  I  shall  take  it  for  granted,  with- 
out argument,  that  he  is  still  God  enough  to  act  upon 
the  creature  of  his  hand,  and  to  influence  him  as  one 
spirit  may  influence  another.  If  any  of  my  hearers  is 
disposed  to  say  he  knows  nothing  of  any  such  Being, 
I  shall  reply  by  recommending  him  to  make  his  ac- 
quaintance. 

Thirdly,  I  assume  that  this  Divine  Creator  and 
natural  companion  of  man  is  not  locked  up  in  the  sky- 
parlor  of  the  universe,  unable  or  unwilling  to  do  more 
than  indolently  to  watch,  through  the  crystal  floor  of 
his  prison,  the  swing  of  his  spheres  and  the  tumultu- 
ations  of  human  history.  I  shall  take  it  for  granted 
that  you  all  reject  this  deistic  notion  of  a  cock-loft 
divinity,  far  removed  from  all  human  affairs,  a  cold 
and  idle  spectator  of  the  world  of  men.  I  assume 
that,  as  the  air  inspheres  all  trees,  so  God  all  souls. 
In  him  is  our  living,  our  movement,  our  being.  He 
touches  us  on  every  side.  The  Divine  and  human 
spirits  not  only  can,  but  do,  communicate  to  and  with 
each  other.  God  can  take  knowledge  of  my  thought ; 
I  of  his.  God  can  breathe  peaceful  benedictions  into 
my  spirit ;  I  can  cause  grief  to  his.  God  can  woo  my 
love  by  his  goodness  ;  I  his,  in  prayers  and  grateful 
service.  If  any  man  hesitates  to  concede  me  this,  let 
him  take  lessons  of  Theodore  Parker ;  even  of  him 
he  may  learn  thus  much. 

Finally,  I  assume  that   the    Christian    Church  is 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  217 

not  the  fabric  of  a  dream,  nor  a  paper  plan  found  only 
in  books,  but  a  great  historic  institution.  I  shall  not 
try  to  prove  that  Jesus  Christ  was  neither  a  knave 
nor  a  fool ;  neither  myth-made  nor  a  myth-maker.  I 
shall  assume  it  as  tolerably  well  settled  that  Abraham 
was  the  father  of  the  Israelitish  nation  ;  that  there 
was  a  servitude  in  Egypt ;  a  law-giving  at  Sinai ;  a 
theocracy  in  Palestine ;  a  crucifixion  in  Jerusalem. 
The  kingdom  of  God  among  men  has  stood  long 
enough  to  be  recognized  in  every  history.  It  spreads 
widely  enough  to  be  seen  on  the  smallest  map.  Its 
foundation-stones  are  under  the  world  ;  its  pinnacles 
are  lost  in  the  heavens. 

These,  then,  are  our  preliminary  assumptions :  a 
spiritual  psychology,  speculative  theism,  and  a  per- 
sonal relationship  between  God  and  men,  historically 
mediated  by  Jesus  Christ.  I  make  them  the  more 
unhesitatingly,  from  the  fact  that  each  of  them  has 
been  already  vindicated  by  the  lecturers  who  have 
preceded  me  in  the  course.  They  give  us,  as  you  see, 
first,  an  inspirable  Soul ;  second,  a  Being  capable  of 
inspiring  it ;  and,  third,  the  fit  historic  occasion. 

These  preliminaries  being  thus  settled,  we  are  pre- 
pared to  state  the  exact  question  proposed  to  us  for 
discussion.  Much  confusion  has  characterized  some 
of  our  treatises  on  this  subject,  from  the  failure  of 
their  authors  clearly  to  apprehend,  and  persistently 
adhere  to,  the  precise  point  in  debate. 

Observe,  then,  first  of  all,  that  the  question  before 
us  is  not  the  question  whether  or  not  the  ancient 
prophets  and  apostles  received  immediate  commu- 
nications  from   God.     This    is   assumed.     It   is  the 


2l8  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

question,  not  of  Scripture  inspiration,  but  of  Christian 
revelation. 

Again,  our  question  is  not  whether  or  not  these 
organs  or  mediums  of  Divine  revelation  were  in  an 
inspired  condition  at  the  time  of  their  receiving  the 
immediate  Divine  communications  vouchsafed  to  them. 
This  may  be  taken  for  granted,  if  they  received  Di- 
vine communications  at  all.  It  is,  however,  a  ques- 
tion relating  not  to  the  recorders,  but  to  the  recipients 
of  God's  revelations. 

Finally,  the  point  at  issue  is  not  whether  or  not 
the  holy  prophets  and  apostles  were  under  an  especial 
Divine  influence,  when  engaged  in  orally  declaring  and 
carrying  out  their  Divine  commissions.  That  is  a 
point  to  be  settled  on  its  own  evidence ;  but  it  is  not 
the  question  of  Scripture  inspiration. 

The  real  question  of  Scripture  inspiration  is  sim- 
ply and  solely  this  :  Is  there  satisfactory  evidence 
that,  in  the  labor  of  composing  our  Holy  Scriptures, 
the  sacred  writers  were  aided  in  an  extraordinary  and 
peculiar  manner  by  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  and,  if  so,  what 
was  the  nature,  and  what  the  effect,  of  that  aid  ?  Re- 
member, then,  that  we  do  not  here  inquire  respecting 
the  fact  of  a  Divine  revelation,  or  the  psychical  state 
of  its  recipients  at  the  time  of  its  reception,  or  the 
normality  of  their  state  of  mind  in  orally  delivering  it 
to  others  ;  our  one  and  only  business  is  with  the  sacred 
writers,  as  writers,  and  as  writing.  The  general  in- 
quiry ramifies,  as  we  have  just  seen,  into  three  special 
ones  ;  the  first  relating  to  the  fact,  the  second  to  the 
nature,  and  the  third  to  the  effects,  of  Scripture  in- 
spiration.    Let  us  take  up  each  in  order. 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  219 

I.  The  Fact.  That  the  sacred  writers  were  di- 
rectly and  extraordinarily  aided  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
writing  down  what  they  did,  is  not  so  easily  proved  as 
some,  who  have  attempted  the  task,  would  seem  to 
imagine.  The  sacred  writers  themselves  nowhere 
make  the  assertion.  In  one  place  they  tell  us  that 
"  holy  men  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  ;"*  but  nowhere,  that  they  thus  wrote.  Often, 
along  with  the  Divine  message,  vision,  or  prophecy, 
they  record  the  Divine  command  which  bade  them 
write  it ;  but  that,  at  the  time  of  making  the  record, 
they  were  under  an  extraordinary  Divine  influence, 
they  nowhere  tell  us.  We  can  not  claim,  therefore, 
that  they  were  under  such  Divine  influence,  on  the 
ground  of  any  direct  assertion  of  the  writers  them- 
selves. 

To  some  before  me,  very  possibly,  this  may  seem 
a  very  grave  and  unnecessary  concession.  To  such  I 
can  only  say,  that  no  concession  to  truth  is  to  be 
feared.  Nothing  is  so  perilous  to  the  ascendancy  of 
Christian  ideas  and  beliefs,  in  a  community  like  ours, 
as  an  over-anxious,  disingenuous,  special-pleading  spirit 
in  the  professed  expounders  and  defenders  of  the  faith. 
Nothing  ever  came  so  near  swamping  my  own  faith  in 
the  Divine  origin  of  Christianity  as  the  discovery  of 
this  pitiful  pettifoggery  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  ac- 
credited apologists  of  the  system.  There  are  defenses 
of  Christianity  which  are  more  dangerous  than  the 
attacks  which  called  them  forth.  There  are  vindi- 
cations of  the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  of 
which  we  may  emphatically  affirm,  it  had  been  better 

*2  Peter  i,  21. 


220  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

for  the  cause  had  they  never  been  born.  Take  any 
fifty  ordinary  treatises  or  discussions  of  this  subject, 
and  you  will  find  at  least  forty  of  them  commencing 
their  argument  for  the  fact  of  Scripture  inspiration 
with  the  assertion,  "  The  sacred  writers  claim  it." 
When  I  recall  the  emotions  with  which  I  first  perused 
and  sifted  the  course  of  argument  employed  in  proof 
of  this  initial  proposition,  I  can  not  reply  indignantly 
enough,  "  They  claim  no  such  thing."  Call  not  my 
position  a  perilous  concession.  It  is  the  old  position 
which  is  perilous.  The  logical  jugglery  required  to 
cover  up  its  falsity  has  fatally  disgusted  many  an  in- 
genuous mind.  Nothing  is  so  safe  as  truth,  nothing 
so  persuasive  as  honesty. 

There  is  another  argument,  almost  invariably  em- 
ployed by  those  who  have  elaborated  the  proof  of 
Scripture  inspiration,  of  which  I  can  say  nothing  bet- 
ter than  of  the  last.  I  refer  to  the  argument  a  priori, 
from  the  necessity  of  such  a  Divine  influence  in  order 
to  make  the  Bible  authoritative.  It  runs  as  follows: 
The  Bible  must  have  been  written  under  a  Divine  in- 
spiration, since,  without  such  an  inspiration,  it  would 
have  no  power  to  command  man's  faith,  would  have  no 
authority.  This,  as  you  observe,  is  arguing  a  matter  of 
fact  from  an  alleged  a  priori  necessity — a  logical  proced- 
ure always  suspicious,  and  most  frequently  fallacious. 
I  must  leave  such  an  argument  to  others.  It  does  not 
carry  conviction  to  my  mind.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
Gospel  would  have  been  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  even 
if  it  had  never  been  committed  to  writing  at  all.  Me- 
thinks  the  Israelites  were  bound  to  believe  Moses  or 
Isaiah,  when  they  declared  what  Jehovah  had  said  to 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  221 

them,  even  if  these  prophets  gave  no  proof  that  God 
was,  at  the  moment,  dictating,  or  in  any  wise  extra- 
ordinarily affecting,  their  narration  of  his  message. 
Methinks  that,  if  the  writings  of  the  holy  prophets 
and  apostles  contained  no  hint  that  God  assisted  in  a 
peculiar  manner  in  their  composition,  I  should  still  be 
under  obligation  to  believe  the  great  facts  of  sacred 
history ;  to  accept  the  cardinal  doctrines  and  prac- 
tice the  pure  precepts  of  Christianity.  Even  these 
same  theologians  grant,  and  indeed  strenuously  main- 
tain, that  uninspired  testimony  may  make  a  belief  in 
miracles  morally  obligatory.  If  it  can  do  that,  what 
is  there,  in  the  whole  compass  of  the  Bible,  which  the 
ordinary  testimony  of  the  holy  prophets  and  apostles, 
and  the  witnessing  Church,  could  not  cover  ?  Let  us 
remember,  too,  that,  if  uninspired  testimony  has  no 
power  to  command  men's  faith,  the  Bible  has  no 
power  to  command  faith  in  its  own  genuineness  ;  for 
the  only  testimonies  we  have  that  our  sacred  books 
were  really  written  by  the  holy  men  to  whom  they  are 
ascribed,  are  confessedly  uninspired. 

Again,  the  argument  either  excludes  all  Scripture 
proofs  for  the  fact  of  inspiration,  or  involves  the  fal- 
lacy of  reasoning  in  a  circle.  If,  as  we  are  told,  we 
can  never  be  absolutely  sure  that  a  Scripture  state- 
ment is  true,  until  it  has  been  shown  that  every  word 
and  syllable  was  infallibly  inspired  of  God,  then,  evi- 
dently, no  Scripture  statements,  were  they  never  so 
numerous  and  never  so  explicit,  could  establish  the 
doctrine  of  inspiration  itself,  for  the  simple  reason, 
we  have  as  yet  no  proof  that  those  Scripture  state- 
ments  affirming   it   are   themselves   reliable.      If  we 


222  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

employ  them,  we  necessarily  reason  in  a  circle.  We 
say,  in  effect :  All  Scripture  must  be  Divinely  in- 
spired, for  such  and  such  Divinely  inspired  passages 
say  so. 

Without  wasting  further  words  upon  the  tradi- 
tional mode  of  arguing  our  question,  I  will  here  say, 
that,  while  I  most  heartily  and  unwaveringly  believe 
in  the  inspiration  of  the  sacred  writers  as  writers,  I 
am  of  the  opinion  that  my  faith,  and  the  universal 
faith  of  the  Church,  on  this  point,  \s  purely  inferential 
The  Scriptures  teach  it  only  as  they  teach  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Holy  Trinity,  or  the  hypostatic  union  of 
the  two  natures  in  Christ.  Nor  is  its  evidence,  on 
this  account,  in  my  opinion,  any  the  less.  I  should 
rather  call  it  all  the  greater.  Mere  professions  are 
cheap  in  all  religions,  and  in  our  day  even  authority 
goes  for  little.  The  very  best  evidences  which  a  sys- 
tem can  have  are  those  which  are  imbedded  in  its 
very  structure,  ingrained  in  its  very  fiber.  These 
must  be  as  enduring  as  the  system  itself.  Just  such, 
as  I  view  them,  are  the  evidences  of  Scripture  in- 
spiration. 

The  reasons  in  view  of  which  we  accept  the  doc- 
trine are  chiefly,  I  think,  the  following  : 

i.  The  grand  analogies  of  Christian  experience. 

The  true  Christian  has  a  very  vivid  realization  of 
his  own  utter  impotence  and  worthlessness  apart  from 
Divine  grace.  He  has  learned  from  experience  that 
no  man  can  even  call  Jesus  Lord,  but  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  He  has  learned  that  the  new  life  is  a  living  in 
the  Spirit,  and  a  walking  in  the  Spirit;  that  they  only 
who  are  led  by  the  Spirit  are  the  sons  of  God.     The 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  223 

Comforter  is  nearer  to  him  than  his  own  flesh  and 
blood.  He  helps  his  infirmities,  bears  witness  to  his 
sonship,  indites  his  petitions,  makes  intercession  for 
him,  prompts  to  good,  restrains  from  evil,  sanctifies 
the  heart,  and  hallows  the  life.  Such  a  man  views 
himself  as  a  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  a  worker  to- 
gether with  God.  When  called  upon  to  witness  to 
the  truth  before  the  ungodly,  he  asks  for  Divine  as- 
sistance, and  is  conscious  of  receiving  it.  In  inter- 
ceding for  others,  he  asks  to  be  taught  how  to  pray, 
and  believes  that  he  is  thus  taught.  If  a  preacher 
of  the  Word,  he  never  prepares  or  preaches  a  sermon 
without  asking,  and,  as  he  firmly  believes,  receiving, 
Divine  aid.  With  such  views  and  convictions  and 
experiences,  he  instinctively  assumes  that  the  sacred 
writers,  walking  more  closely  with  God,  called  to 
higher  responsibilities,  and  intrusted  with  higher 
work,  must  have  enjoyed  in  an  exceptional  degree 
these  aids  and  influences  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  an  ar- 
gument a  fortiori.  If  put  into  logical  form  by  the 
understanding,  it  would  run  thus:  If  I  daily  receive 
such  Divine  strength  and  aid  and  direction  in  the 
discharge  of  my  comparatively  insignificant  duties, 
how  much  more  must  the  holy  prophets  and  apostles 
have  had  the  higher  aid  they  needed  in  every  thing 
pertaining  to  the  revelation  of  God's  will,  and  the 
government  of  his  Church !  The  force  of  this  pre- 
sumption is  immense.  Its  practical  influence,  in 
maintaining  the  faith  of  the  Church  in  the  extraor- 
dinary inspiration  of  the  sacred  writers,  is,  in  my 
opinion,  immeasurably  greater  than  that  of  all  the 
argumentative  treatises  ever  written  upon  the  point, 


224  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

from  the  beginning  until  now.  It  is  true  it  is  only  a 
presumptive  argument;  but  the  presumption  is  so 
vitally  grounded  in  the  facts  and  experiences  of  the 
Christian  life  itself,  that  nothing  can  neutralize  its 
influence  over  the  genuine  Christian  mind.  And  the 
higher  sense  such  a  mind  has  of  the  responsibility 
and  importance  of  the  work  of  committing  the  Divine 
Oracles  to  writing,  and  thus  furnishing  to  the  Church 
of  all  ages  an  authoritative  norm  of  doctrine  and 
practice,  the  more  vivid  and  firm  will  be  its  faith 
that,  in  the  execution  of  that  work,  unusual  aids  of 
the  Spirit  were  granted. 

2.  I  think  the  faith  of  the  Church  in  the  fact  of 
Scripture  inspiration  reposes,  further,  upon  the  repre- 
sentations given  us,  in  the  Scriptures,  of  the  authority 
and  inspiration  of  the  prophets  and  apostles  in  their 
oral  teachings. 

I  need  not  detain  you  with  any  extended  proof 
that  a  peculiar  and  exceptional  Divine  aid  was 
afforded  to  God's  ancient  prophets  and  to  the  apos- 
tles of  Christ,  when  acting  in  their  proper  capacity, 
as  divinely  commissioned  teachers  and  authorities  in 
the  Church.  Such  extraordinary  aid  was  absolutely 
essential  to  the  right  discharge  of  the  extraordinary 
duties  of  their  office.  They  were  constituted  the 
authorized  heralds  and  interpreters  of  the  whole 
counsel  of  God  with  respect  to  human  salvation. 
To  the  apostles  were  committed  the  keys  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  with  the  solemn  assurance  that 
whatsoever  they  should  bind  on  earth  should  be 
bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  they  should  loose 
on  earth  should  be  loosed  in  heaven.     Christ  made 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  22 5 

them  so  completely  his  representatives  and  mouth- 
pieces as  to  assume  the  full  responsibility  of  their 
words  and  acts.  To  those  who  should  refuse  to  re- 
ceive them  and  to  hear  their  words,  he  threatens 
judgments  more  intolerable  than  those  which  over- 
took Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  He  declares  to  them, 
"  He  that  heareth  you  heareth  me,  and  he  that  de- 
spiseth  you  despiseth  me."  And  when,  at  the  close 
of  his  earthly  career,  he  tarries  yet  a  little  to  issue 
his  last  solemn  commands  to  his  almost  bewildered 
disciples,  he  deliberately  suspends  upon  the  teach- 
ings of  these  men  the  eternal  destinies  of  all  the 
nations  and  unborn  generations  to  whom  their  words 
shall  ever  come.  "  Go  ye  and  teach  all  nations ; 
.  .  .  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatso- 
ever I  have  commanded  you.  .  .  .  He  that  be- 
lieveth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved  ;  but  he  that 
believeth  not  shall  be  damned."*  In  the  old  dis- 
pensation, like  power  and  authority  was  committed. 
God  demanded  of  the  people  and  of  their  rulers,  and 
even  of  the  priests  and  high-priests,  that  they  should 
hear  and  obey  his  special  prophetic  messengers.  He 
declared  that  if  any  man  should  refuse,  he  would 
require  it  of  him.  If  such  was  the  office  of  these 
organs  of  revelation  in  God's  kingdom,  surely  an 
extraordinary  Divine  aid  was  essential  to  its  right 
discharge. 

This  antecedent  expectation  we  find  fully  met  in 
the  representations  given  us  in  the  Bible.  We  are 
told  that  such  a  special  official  charisma  was  prom- 
ised  and   conferred.     Christ    pledged    it    to  his  dis- 

*  Matthew  xxviii,  19,  20  j  Mark  xvi,  16. 
20 


226  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

ciples  the  first  time  he  sent  them  forth  to  preach.* 
He  renews  it  in  his  prophecy  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  persecutions  which  awaited  them. 
He  tells  them,  "  Settle  it,  therefore,  in  your  hearts, 
not  to  meditate  before  what  ye  shall  answer  ;  for  I 
will  give  you  a  mouth  and  wisdom,  which  all  your 
adversaries  shall  not  be  able  to  gainsay  nor  resist."f 
In  his  farewell  discourse,  just  previous  to  his  death, 
he  repeated  and  enlarged  the  promise  ; %  and  after  his 
resurrection,  one  of  his  last  injunctions  to  his  dis- 
ciples was  to  tarry  at  Jerusalem  until  they  should  be 
endued  with  power  from  on  high.||  Similar  promises 
were  often  vouchsafed  to  the  ancient  prophets. § 

All  these  promises  were  duly  fulfilled.  The  apos- 
tles were  endued  with  the  promised  power ;  and,  as 
if  to  intimate  the  Divine  significance  of  the  baptism, 
as  designed  to  qualify  them  for  the  publication  of  the 
Gospel,  the  charisma  was  bestowed  under  the  visible 
type  of  cloven  "  tongues,"  like  as  of  fire  resting  upon 
each  of  them.  Thenceforth  their  preaching  was  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  heaven.^"  They 
represented  their  teachings  and  ordinances  as  of  Di- 
vine authority.**  They  demanded  for  the  spirit  within 
them  the  respect  due  to  the  Divine.ft  They  asserted 
that  their  preaching  was  not  with  words  of  man's  wis- 
dom, but  in  the  demonstration  of  the  spirit  and  of 
power ;  that  it  was  revealed  unto  them  by  God's 
Spirit,   the   same   Divine   Agent   who   searcheth    all 

*  Matthew  x,  19,  20;  Luke  xii,  II,  12.         fLuke  xxi,  14,  15. 
J  John  xiv,  16-18.         ||  Luke  xxiv,  49;  Acts  i,  8. 
§  Jeremiah  i,  8, 18,  19  ;  xv,  19-21  ;  Ezra  iii,  8,  9,  etc.     1"  1  Peter  i,  12. 
**  Acts  xv,  28 ;  1  Corinthians  vii.  40  ;  xiv,  37  ;  Ephesians  iii,  5. 
tt  Acts  v,  3,  4 ;  1  Thessalonians  iv,  8. 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION,  227 

things,  even  the  depths  of  God  ;  that  by  this  Spirit 
they  knew  the  mind  of  the  Lord  ;  and,  finally,  that 
what  they  thus  knew,  they  spoke,  "  not  in  words, 
which  men's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  teacheth."*  Of  the  prophets  they  affirm  that 
they  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 
At  the  same  time  they  claim  for  themselves  per- 
fect equality  with,  and  even  pre-eminence  above,  said 
prophets. f  No  one,  who  believes  the  Bible  true,  can 
doubt  that  the  prophets  and  apostles  were  truly  and 
extraordinarily  inspired  in  the  work  of  oral  teaching. 
Inspiration  in  oral  teaching,  however,  being  granted, 
inspiration  in  the  work  of  written  instruction,  and 
especially  in  the  preparation  of  a  perpetual  norm  of 
faith  for  the  Church,  is  a  simple,  natural,  almost 
inevitable,  inference.  Contrasting  the  character  and 
foreseen  historic  influences  of  their  spoken,  and  of 
their  written,  words,  we  should  say  that  such  Divine 
aid  was  even  more  needful  for  the  writer  than  for 
the  speaker.  Hence,  the  pious  mind  of  the  Church 
has,  in  all  ages,  consciously,  or  unconsciously,  rea- 
soned as  follows :  If  the  Holy  Spirit  secured  an 
absolute  and  continual  authority  to  the  chosen 
media  of  revelation,  then  must  they  have  been  as 
truly  under  Divine  guidance  when  laboring  with  the 
pen,  as  when  laboring  with  the  tongue.  Indeed,  as 
what  they  wrote  was  designed  of  God  to  be  pre- 
served through  all  generations,  and  to  serve  the 
Church  as  a  permanent  and  authentic  record  of  sa- 
cred history,  doctrine,  and  ordinance,  there  was  greater 

*  1  Corinthians  ii. 

t  2  Peter  iii,  2  ;  Romans  xvi,  25,  26 ;  I  Corinthians  xii,  28  ;  Ephe- 
sians  ii,  20  :  iv,  II. 


228  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

reason  for  affording  them  extraordinary  aid  when  writ- 
ingj  than  when  delivering  oral  discourses,  which  could 
reach  but  a  few  hundred  of  their  own  generation. 
To  suppose  that  the  promised  and  received  Spirit  of 
truth  was  withdrawn  from  the  apostles,  when  they 
betook  themselves  to  the  task  of  writing  the  Scrip- 
tures of  the  New  Dispensation,  would  be  to  suppose 
that  they  were  deserted  just  when  Divine  help  was 
more  needed  than  at  any  other  time  ;  would  be  to 
assume  that  especial  assistance  was  afforded  in  the 
easier  portion  of  their  work,  but  withheld  in  the  more 
difficult.  The  argument  loses  none  of  its  force  when 
applied  to  the  ancient  prophets,  since  in  almost  every 
case  the  critical  and  decisive  test  of  the  truth  of 
their  prophecies  was  to  be  the  historic  fulfillment,  or 
non-fulfillment,  not  of  remembered  words  which  had 
been  spoken,  but  of  exact  declarations,  written  down 
ofttimes  centuries  before,  in  black  and  white.  Evi- 
dently, if  the  prophet  needed  to  be  supernaturally 
preserved  from  error  at  all,  it  was  not  so  much  in 
his  spoken,  as  in  his  written,  declarations. 

Such,  I  imagine,  to  be  the  second  ground  of  the 
Christian  faith  in  the  inspiration  of  the  prophets  and 
apostles  as  writers. 

3.  The  third  basis  of  the  same  belief  is  found  in 
the  peculiar  deference  every-where  and  always  paid 
to  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  by  Christ  and  his 
apostles. 

Here,  as  on  other  points,  I  think  the  defenders  of 
the  Bible  have  often  overstrained  the  argument,  and 
so  broken  its  force.  Many  of  them  have  represented 
the  language  of  Christ  and  of  the  apostles,  as  directly 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  229 

and  unequivocally  asserting  that  the  authors  of  the 
Old  Testament  books  wrote  under  an  extraordinary 
Divine  afflatus.  I  can  find  no  such  assertion  in 
the  New  Testament.  Even  the  classical  passage — 
2  Timothy  iii,  16 — whether  rendered,  "  All  Scripture 
is  theopneustic  and  profitable,"  or,  M  All  theopneustic 
Scripture  is  profitable,"  does  not  assert  it.  It  con- 
tains no  reference  to  the  sacred  writers.  It  does  not 
even  indicate  whether  the  affirmed  or  assumed  the- 
opneustia  relates  to  the  matter,  or  to  the  form,  of 
ancient  Scripture.  It  does  not  even  define  the  un- 
familiar term  which  it  applies  to  ancient  Scripture,  a 
term  found  nowhere  else  in  the  Bible.  It  does  not 
compel  us  to  predicate  of  the  Old  Testament  any  thing 
more  than  that  theopneumatic  quality  which  is  pred- 
icate, for  example,  of  a  good  man's  prayers.  But  if 
this  passage  does  not  sustain  the  affirmation  in  ques- 
tion, surely  there  is  none  which  does.  Here,  as  in 
the  former  cases,  the  argument  is  first  made  clear  and 
forcible,  when  we  make  our  conclusion  an  inference 
from  the  facts  before  us. 

What  are  these  facts  ?  I  can  not  state  them  in 
detail ;  but,  in  general,  they  are  these.  Christ  every- 
where appealed  to  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, as  to  an  authoritative  arbiter  in  all  controversy. 
He  declared  that  it  can  not  be  falsified;*  that  the 
whole  law,  even  to  its  iotas  and  tittles,  must  be  ful- 
filled ;f  that  every  thing  in  his  own  life  and  death 
must  conform  to  what  was  written  of  him,  "  in  Moses, 
and  in  the  prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms."  %  The  same 
is  true  of  the  apostles.     Their  constant  appeal  is  to 

*John  vii,  23;  x,  35.  tMatt.  v,  18.  J  Luke  xxiv,  44. 


23O  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

the  Scriptures.  They  call  them  the  Word  of  God, 
God's  Oracles.  They  quote  them  with  such  intro- 
ductory expressions  as  these :  "  The  Holy  Ghost 
saith  ;"  "  God  saith  ;"  "  The  Lord  by  the  mouth  of  his 
servant  David  hath  said,"  etc.  They  style  them,  in 
distinction  from  all  other  compositions,  "  The  Scrip 
tures"  "  The  Scriptures  of  Truth"  "  The  Holy  Scrip- 
tures." They  affirm  that  they  are  theopneustic,*  that 
they  are  able  to  make  us  wise  unto  salvation.  And 
while  most,  if  not  all,  of  these  and  similar  declara- 
tions are  employed  with  reference  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scriptures,  it  is  not  to  be  overlooked  that  they 
claim  for  their  own  apostolic  writings  a  full  equality 
with  the  more  ancient  Scriptures  of  the  Church. f 
Now,  in  all  these  and  equivalent  expressions,  there  is 
no  direct  assertion  that  either  the  prophets  or  apos- 
tles wrote  under  extraordinary  influences  of  the  Spirit ; 
but  there  is  such  a  patent  assumption  of  the  fact,  both 
by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  that  no  candid  and  right- 
minded  believer  in  their  authority  can  resist  the  clear 
inference.  Taken  in  connection  with  the  considera- 
tions already  presented,  its  force  far  surpasses  that  of 
any  mere  declarations  of  authority,  however  numerous 
or  explicit.  It  is  perceived  to  be  a  necessary  implica- 
tion of  the  faith. 

Such  I  believe  to  be  the  chief  grounds  on  which 
the  Church's  belief  in  Scripture  inspiration  rests. 
Others  no  doubt  contribute  to  its  confirmation,  but 
these  are  the  chief.  I  believe  them  abundantly  suffi- 
cient. Granting  the  facts  from  which  our  inference 
is  drawn,  and  for  all  of  which  we  have  highest  direct 

*2  Tim.  iii,  16.  \2  Peter  iii,  16. 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  23  I 

evidence,  the  legitimacy  of  the  inference  can  never  be 
questioned.  So  long,  therefore,  as  the  Church  shall 
retain  her  Christian  life,  her  faith  in  the  official  charis- 
mata of  the  prophets  and  apostles,  and,  finally,  her 
histories  of  the  manner  in  which  Christ  and  the  apos- 
tles deferred  to  Old  Testament  Scripture,  just  so  long 
will  she  believe  in  the  fact  of  Scripture  inspiration. 

II.   The  Nature  of  Scripture  Inspiration. 

Enough  with  respect  to  the  Fact ;  let  us  pass  to 
consider  the  Nature  of  this  extraordinary  Divine  in- 
fluence. 

On  this  point,  as  you  all  know,  a  great  variety 
of  views  have  been  entertained.  There  is,  for  in- 
stance, on  the  one  hand,  the  dictational  theory,  or 
the  theory  of  an  exact  and  universal  verbal  inspira- 
tion. According  to  this  conception  of  the  matter, 
God  literally  dictated  to  the  sacred  writers,  as  to  so 
many  amanuenses,  every  word  of  the  Bible,  verbatim, 
from  Genesis  to  Revelation.  One  Calvinistic  Confes- 
sion insists  that  even  the  Hebrew  vowel-points  were 
given  by  the  inspiration  of  God  ;*  though  they  are 
well  known  to  have  been  added  centuries  after  the 
original  composition  of  some  of  the  books.  On  this 
theory  the  sacred  writer  was  only  a  penman,  a  tran- 
scriber; his  part  was  simply  and  solely  the  reproduc- 
tion upon  parchment  of  the  precise  words  revealed  to 
his  inner  sense  by  the  dictating  Spirit.  Whether  he 
penned  history,  prophecy,  psalm,  or  doctrine,  Divine 

*  "  Turn  quoad  consonas,  turn  quoad  vocalia,  sive  puncta  ipsa,  sive 
punctorum  saltern  potestatem,  et  turn  quoad  res,  turn  quoad  verba 
fleoTTvevoros."     (Formula  Consensus  Helvetici,  A.  D.  1675.) 


232  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

thoughts  or  human  feelings,  things  already  known,  or 
now  for  the  first  time  revealed,  the  operation  of  the 
Spirit  was  the  same.  The  writer  was  merely  the 
passive  organ  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  as  much  so  as  the 
hand  with  which  you  write  is  an  organ  of  your  mind. 
Gerhard  calls  them,  in  so  many  words,  "Manus 
Christi" — the  hands  of  Christ.  Here  the  Divine 
agency  is  at  its  maximum,  human  agency  reduced  to 
its  minimum. 

The  natural  reaction  from  this  mechanical  and 
most  unsatisfactory  view  carries  many  to  the  opposite 
extreme  of  a  mere  Divine  supervision  or  superintend- 
ence of  the  sacred  writers,  by  which  they  were  simply 
restrained  from  material  error.  Their  language  is 
their  own  ;  their  style  is  their  own ;  their  statements, 
arguments,  and  reflections,  with  perhaps  the  excep- 
tion of  those  introduced  directly  with  a  "  Thus  saith 
the  Lord,"  are  all  their  own.  The  only  Divine  agency 
attending  the  composition  was  the  somewhat  nega- 
tive one  of  excluding  from  the  mind  of  the  writer 
all  statements  and  inculcations  inconsistent  with  the 
great  object  of  Divine  revelation.  Here  we  have  the 
maximum  of  human,  with  the  minimum  of  Divine, 
agency. 

But  these  two  antipodal  theories  are  by  no  means 
all.  Between  these,  as  extremes,  we  find  almost  every 
conceivable  modification  of  the  two  related  agencies. 
To  increase  the  confusion,  old  Rabbinical  distinctions 
between  different  kinds  of  inspiration  are  rehabil- 
itated ;  and  we  are  told  of  "  the  inspiration  of  super- 
intendence," "  the  inspiration  of  elevation,"  and  "  the 
inspiration  of  suggestion."     Then  come  distinctions 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  233 

with  respect  to  the  writers  ;  one  class  being  historic, 
another  didactic,  and  a  third  prophetic.  Finally,  to 
render  the  discrepancies  as  nearly  infinite  as  possible, 
all  these  classes  of  writers  are  combined  with  all  these 
kinds  of  inspiration,  through  almost  the  whole  scale 
of  possible  mathematic  permutations.  How,  now,  in 
such  a  Babel  of  conflicting  opinions,  are  we  to  ascer- 
tain the  true  one  ?  How  can  we  expect  to  arrive  at  a 
view  satisfactory  even  to  ourselves  ? 

It  would  detain  us  quite  too  long  were  I  to  attempt 
even  the  hastiest  review  of  the  arguments  by  which 
any  one  of  these  theories  has  been  defended  or  assailed. 
The  controversy,  particularly  between  the  verbalists 
and  the  non-verbalists,  has  been  long  and  earnest. 
The  arguments,  pro  and  contra,  fill  volumes.  Nor  do 
I  think  that  such  a  review,  even  were  it  practicable, 
would  bring  us  to  any  satisfactory  conclusion.  No 
business  is  more  utterly  profitless  than  that  of  weigh- 
ing the  relative  advantages  or  defects  of  theories  all 
equally  false.  This  I  understand  to  be  the  exact  dif- 
ficulty with  all  these  theories  of  the  nature  of  Scrip- 
ture inspiration.  And  I  suppose  the  great  reason 
why  no  one  of  them  has  ever  been  able  to  secure 
general  acquiescence,  is  to  be  found  precisely  in 
their  common,  and  perhaps  equal,  untruth. 

I  style  them  all  false,  and  equally  so,  because  they 
all  equally  proceed  upon  the  false  and  Deistical  dogma 
that  Divine  agency  and  human  agency  are  mutually 
exclusive.  Some  things  man,  unaided,  or  left  to  him- 
self, can  do ;  those  he  is  left  to  do.  Only  when  the 
requirement  surpasses  man's  ability  are  we  to  bring 

in  the   supposition  of  Divine  efficiency.     Whatever, 

21 


234  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

therefore,  is  required  in  the  Bible  over  and  above  what 
its  human  authors  were  able  to  furnish,  that  is  God's ; 
all  else  is  theirs.  This  principle  underlies  all  these 
theories  alike.  They  all  conceive  of  God's  agency 
and  man's  agency  as  similar,  in  their  relationship,  to 
two  antagonistic  mechanical  forces.  Increase  the 
one,  and  the  effect  of  the  other  is  correspondingly 
reduced  ;  diminish  the  one,  and  the  other  proportion- 
ately preponderates.  The  moment  God's  agency  in  a 
prophet  becomes  extraordinarily  great,  his  own  be- 
comes extraordinarily  small.  In  like  manner,  the  less 
the  Divine  influence,  through  withdrawal  of  the  Spirit, 
the  greater  the  human.  It  is  a  see-saw  relationship, 
in  which  the  higher  the  Divine  element  rises,  the 
lower  the  human  falls ;  and,  vice  versa,  the  higher  the 
human  rises,  the  lower  the  Divine  falls. 

Now  a  more  radically  anti-Christian 'notion  never 
found  entrance  into  the  Christian  Church.  The 
principle  is  borrowed  from  the  Deistic  world-view. 
It  is  not  only  not  true,  but  even  'the  exact  reverse 
of  truth.  Christianity  teaches  us  that  such  is  the 
relation  of  God  and  man,  that,  in  all  their  mutual 
bearings  over  against  each  other,  the  greater  the 
Divine  agency  the  greater  the  human,  and  the  less  the 
Divine  the  less  the  human.  I  need  not  prove  this  by 
any  formal  argument ;  its  mere  statement  carries  con- 
viction to  every  truly  Christian  mind.  Christianity  is 
radically  and  eternally  at  war  with  that  whole  con- 
ception of  the  world  and  of  man,  according  to  which 
each,  under  normal  conditions,  exists  and  acts  inde- 
pendently of  Divine  agency.  It  tells  us  that  all 
things   are   constantly   upheld    by    the   word   of  his 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  235 

power.  Man  lives  and  moves  and  has  his  being  in 
God.  His  dower  of  freedom  gives  him,  indeed,  suffi- 
cient personal  independence  to  enable  him  personally 
to  antagonize  or  personally  to  choose  God  ;  but  even 
in  the  exercise  of  this  freedom  he  is  not  independent 
of  God.  Indeed,  he  can  not  become  fully  and  truly 
human  without  that  supernatural  Divine  light,  which 
lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world.  He 
can  never  become  a  proper  moral  agent  without  that 
insphering  atmosphere  oi  God's  Spirit,  in  whose  light 
he  discerns  moral  distinctions,  and  in  whose  prompt- 
ings and  reproofs  he  finds  impulses  to  action.  Espe* 
daily  in  the  phenomena  of  specifically  religious  life 
do  we  note  the  great  law  I  have  enunciated.  The 
greater  the  awakening  and  convicting  agency  of  the 
Spirit,  the  intenser  the  contrition  and  agony  of  the 
sinner ;  the  livelier  the  testimony  of  the  Spirit  to 
adoption,  the  keener  the  joy  of  the  pardoned ;  the 
more  perfect  the  indwelling  of  the  Spirit,  the  higher- 
toned  and  more  active  the  Christian's  life.  Even  the 
heightened  joys  and  activities  of  the  ultimately  glori- 
fied, are  represented  by  Christianity  as  conditioned 
upon  the  fuller  and  higher  Divine  manifestations, 
which  await  them  in  the  future  state.  I  repeat  it, 
then,  that  the  conception  of  the  relationship  subsist- 
ing between  God  and  man,  which  underlies  the 
dictational  theory,  the  supervisional  theory,  and  all 
compromises  between  the  two,  is  Deistic,  anti-Chris- 
tian, not  merely  untrue,  but  the  exact  reverse  of 
truth.  Inspiration,  like  every  other  fact,  conditioned 
upon  the  co-efficiency  of  God  and  man,  is  a  product, 
not  of  contra,  but  of  c0#-spiring  forces. 


236  INGHAM  LECTURES 

Such  being  the  Christian  view  of  the  relationship 
between  Divine  agency  and  human  agency,  it  neces- 
sarily follows  that  the  most  thoroughly  inspired  man 
is  the  most  thoroughly  self-active.  This  is  as  we 
should  antecedently  expect,  when  we  remember  that 
man  was  originally  created  in  God's  image,  and  was 
designed  to  share  in  his  life.  It  corresponds,  too, 
with  the  uniform  Scripture  representation  of  the  nat- 
ural man  as  dead,  and  of  the  Spirit  as  life-giving. 
If  God  is  the  fountain  of  our  life  and  archetype  of 
our  nature,  how  can  we  expect  to  acquire  more  and 
more  of  self-life,  except  by  appropriating  more  and 
more  of  his  vivific  inflowings  ?  Apart  from  God's 
power,  we  could  not  exist  at  all  ;  apart  from  his 
Spirit,  our  life  can  only  be  earthy,  psychic,  animal. 
True  normal  activities  of  spirit  can  wake  to  life 
only  when  we  become  partakers  of  the  Divine  nature. 

You  see  at  a  glance  how  instantaneously  and 
completely  this  thought  revolutionizes  the  traditional 
conceptions,  of  Bible  inspiration.  According  to  all 
those  theories,  from  highest  verbalistic  to  lowest 
supervisional,  the  trance-mediumship  of  the  prophet 
was  regarded  as  the  highest  form  of  inspiration. 
Here  the  human  activity  was  least ;  ergo,  so  it  was 
assumed,  the  Divine  must  be  at  its  highest  pitch. 
Instead  of  being  the  highest  form  of  inspiration,  it 
is  in  reality  the  lowest.  Only  distinguish  correctly 
between  inspiration,  as  that  Divine  operation  upon 
the  soul  by  which  it  is  prepared  to  apprehend  a 
Divine  communication,  and  revelation,  which  is  the 
Divine  act  of  presenting  such  communication  to  a 
soul  so  prepared,  and  you  see  at  once  that  the  mere 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  237 

production  of  a  prophetic  trance  or  ecstasy  is  the 
lowest  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  which  we 
should  in  any  wise  feel  authorized  to  apply  the  word 
inspiration.  Indeed,  it  can  not  be  proved  that  it 
necessarily  involves  any  thing  more  than  an  influence 
upon  the  nervous  organism.  We  see  essentially  the 
same  thing  in  the  phenomena  of  animal  magnetism. 
The  hypnotized  subject  is  in  the  same  relation  to  the 
operator,  as  the  entranced  seer  to  God.  The  mag- 
netizer  can  even  make  revelations  to  him  ;  can  cause 
him  to  see,  hear,  taste,  think,  desire  what  he  will. 
He  can  cause  him  to  relate,  under  this  influence, 
what  he  sees,  hears,  tastes,  thinks,  desires.  It  is 
mysterious,  indeed ;  but  it  shows  us  that  the  mere 
entrancing  of  a  man  is  the  lowest,  most  natural,  most 
mechanical  of  all  forms  of  theopneustic  inspiration. 
It  was  for  this  very  reason,  doubtless,  that  it  was  the 
first  employed  by  God,  after  visible  theophanies  gave 
place  to  spiritual  manifestations  in  the  history  of 
redemption.  Very  analogous  effects  of  Divine  power 
have  often  been  witnessed  under  the  preaching  of 
the  Word,  in  the  history  of  every  living  branch  of  the 
Church. 

But  whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  relative  rank 
and  dignity  of  the  trance,  as  distinguished  from  other 
forms  of  the  inspired  state,  one  thing  is  certain,  and 
that  is,  that  we  have  no  proof  whatever  that  one 
syllable  of  our  Holy  Scriptures  was  ever  written  in 
that  psychical  condition.  However  frequent  an  ex- 
perience it  may  or  may  not  have  been,  in  connection 
with  the  reception  of  Divine  communications,  there 
is  not  a  particle  of  evidence  that  ever  a  prophet  or 


238  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

apostle,  while  yet  in  his  trance,  wrote  down  such 
Divine  communications.  Every  natural  probability 
lies  against  the  supposition.  All  questions,  there- 
fore, with  respect  to  the  nature  and  rank  of  so-called 
prophetic  inspiration  are  ruled  out  of  this  discussion  ; 
they  have  no  connection  with  our  question  of  Scrip- 
ture inspiration,  as  defined  at  the  outset. 

How,  then,  are  we  to  conceive  of  the  extraor- 
dinary Divine  influence  under  which  the  sacred 
writers  wrote  ?  In  my  own  opinion,  it  was  identical 
with  that  Divine  influence  under  which  the  same 
Divine  messengers  orally  taught  and  personally  gov- 
erned the  Church.  It  was  the  distinctive  charisma 
of  their  office,  as  authorized  expounders  and  pleni- 
potentiary executors  of  God's  will.  That  it  was  one 
thing  when  they  taught  with  the  pen,  and  another 
thing  when  they  taught  by  the  voice,  is  nowhere 
hinted,  even  in  the  remotest  manner.  Peter's  pente- 
costal  sermon  must  have  been  just  as  theopneustic, 
when  it  fell  upon  the  ears  of  the  congregated  multi- 
tudes, as  after  Luke  had  written  it  down  on  a  piece 
of  parchment.  If  Paul's  discourse  on  Mars'  Hill  is 
to-day  inspired  truth,  it  must  have  been  inspired 
truth  when  first  it  rang  out  above  the  classic  land- 
scape in  which  it  was  pronounced.  The  apostles 
every-where  place  their  written  and  spoken  instruc- 
tions on  a  perfect  equality,  claiming  for  the  one 
as  truly  as  for  the  other,  full  Divine  authority.* 

The  precise  psychological  characteristics  of  this 
inspired   state,  in  which   the  "  holy  men  "  spoke  and 

*2  Thessalonians  ii,  15;   I  Corinthians  xi,  2;    Galatians  i,  8,  9; 
2  Thessalonians  ii,  2,  etc. 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  239 

wrote,  we  can  never  expect,  in  the  utter  absence  of 
the  like  experience,  to  discover.  It  seems,  however, 
clearly  inferable,  from  intimations  in  their  writings, 
that  the  apostles,  in  all  their  official  teachings  by 
tongue  or  pen,  retained  and  exercised  their  full  ra- 
tional consciousness  and  freedom.  Thus  Paul  de- 
clares, "In  the  church  I  had  rather  speak  five  words 
with  my  understanding,  that  by  my  voice  I  might 
teach  others  also,  than  ten  thousand  words  in  an  un- 
known tongue."*  Again,  he  affirms  that  "  the  spirits 
of  the  prophets  are  subject  to  the  prophets."!  When 
charged  by  Festus  with  being  a  crazy  ranter,  he 
replied,  "  I  am  not  mad,  most  noble  Festus,  but 
speak  forth  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness. "$  In 
the  case  of  the  prophets  it  might  be  thought  that 
Peter's  declaration,  that  they  spake,  "  borne  ||  by  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  would  exclude  a  normal  consciousness 
and  freedom  on  their  part ;  but  this  evidently  can 
not  be  maintained.  All  sons  of  God  are  said  to  be 
led  by  the  Spirit ;  but  does  this  exclude  conscious- 
ness and  freedom  on  the  part  of  the  led?  Does  it 
necessitate  the  supposition  that  they  are  led  like  so 
many  somnambulators  or  drunken  persons  ?  This 
would  be  falling  back  into  the  wretched  mechanical 
conception,  which  constitutes  the  substructure  of  the 
false  theories  already  rejected.  We  are  rather  to  con- 
ceive of  even  the  prophets,  when  they  stood  before 
the  people  and  delivered  to  them  God's  messages,  or 
when  in  their  chambers  they  penned  them  for  future 
generations,  as  more  truly,  widely,  conscious  and  free, 

*  1  Corinthians  xiv,  19.  1 1  Corinthians  xiv,  32. 

X  Acts  xxvi,  25.  ||  topd/xewu,  2  Peter  i,  21. 


240  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

than  those  to  whom  they  spoke.  They  were  con- 
scious, not  only  of  their  own  inner  and  personal  ex- 
periences, but  also  of  God's  presence,  and  of  the 
impending  judgments  just  ready  to  fall  upon  their 
guilty  countrymen.  The  range  of  their  lifted  powers 
was  broader,  freer,  than  without  Divine  inspiration  it 
could  have  been.  The  necessary  effect  of  the  Divine 
inworking  upon  intellect,  sensibilities,  and  will,  was 
not  to  stupefy,  but  to  quicken ;  not  to  repress,  but  to 
energize  ;  not  to  smother,  but  to  ignite.  All  theop- 
neustic  inspiration  is  generically  one ;  the  peculiarities 
of  the  official  prophetic  and  apostolic  inspiration  grew 
out  of  their  special  offices,  as  Divinely  authorized 
intermediaries  between  Jehovah  and  man.  In  its 
nature  it  was  such  a  Divine  influence,  as  lifted  the 
soul  to  where  it  could  work  in  perfect  unison  of 
power  and  purpose  with  God.  It  had  its  varying 
limits  and  conditions,  both  in  the  nature  and  spiritual 
attainments  of  the  subject,  and  in  the  extent  and 
character  of  the  revelations  enjoyed  ;  but  for  its  spe- 
cific purpose — to  wit,  to  secure  authoritative  forms 
of  Divine  teaching  and  requirement  in  his  Church — 
it  was,  in  all  cases,  and  under  all  dispensations,  per- 
fect.    This  brings  us  to  consider,  in  the  last  place, 

III.   The  Effects  of  Scripture  Inspiration. 

The  question  is,  What  did  this  extraordinary  Di- 
vine influence  upon  the  sacred  writers,  while  writing, 
secure?     I  reply: 

i.  It  did  not  secure  to  the  Church,  so  far  as  we 
know,  any  new  truth. 

The  disclosure   of  new  truths  is  one  operation ; 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  24 1 

inspiration  another.  The  work  of  revealing  is  usu- 
ally ascribed  in  Scripture  to  the  second  person  in  the 
Adorable  Trinity,  the  work  of  inspiring  to  the  third. 
Revelations  were  often  given  without  inspiration ;  in- 
spiration, often,  without  revelations.  Doubtless,  every 
degree  of  inspiration  was,  by  reason  of  its  natural  ef- 
fect upon  the  soul,  a  degree  of  preparation  for  the 
receiving  of  Divine  communications  ;  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  any  great  distinctive  doctrine  of  revealed 
religion  was  first  revealed  to  one  of  the  sacred  writers 
while  engaged  in  writing.  We  say,  therefore,  that  the 
inspiration  vouchsafed  to  the  sacred  writers,  while 
writing,  did  not  secure  to  the  Church,  so  far  as  we 
know,  any  new  truth. 

2.  It  did  not  secure  to  us,  if  I  rightly  apprehend 
the  matter,  an  exclusively  Divine  expression  of  sacred 
history  and  revealed  doctrine  and  duty,  as  claimed  by 
the  advocates  of  the  dictational  theory.  It  is  absurd, 
in  speaking  of  the  language  of  Scripture,  to  speak 
of  it  as  Divine,  or  as  human.  It  is  neither  purely 
the  one,  nor  purely  the  other.  It  is  rather  Divine 
and  human  in  inseparable  unity,  theanthropic  in  the 
strictest  sense. 

Look  at  yonder  inexperienced  exhorter ;  last  week 
a  rude  and  reckless  sinner,  to-day  pleading  with 
mighty  and  effectual  eloquence  before  the  touched 
and  awe-struck  throng.  How  the  swift  periods  of 
burning  statement,  and  entreaty,  and  argument,  and  ex- 
postulation, roll  from  his  lips  !  Do  you  ask  me  whose 
are  those  words  ?  Foolish  question.  You  surely 
can  not  say  they  are  literally  and  strictly  the  words 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.      Neither   are   they  strictly  and 


242  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

properly  his  own.  A  week  ago  he  could  not  have 
uttered  them,  to  save  his  soul.  Even  now,  lift  from 
his  heart  the  mighty  burden  of  gracious  prophecy 
which  the  Spirit  is  laying  upon  him,  and  in  three  sen- 
tences he  will  flounder  to  an  inglorious  end.  Every 
such  attempt  to  draw  the  dividing  line  between  the 
Divine  and  the  human,  in  religious  phenomena,  is 
as  hopeless  and  absurd  as  to  ask  the  apple-blossom 
whether  it  is  a  child  of  the  soil  or  of  the  sun.  Every 
Christian's  prayers  and  praises  and  right  relations 
of  religious  experience,  while  human,  are  yet,  in  a 
most  real  and  true  sense,  theopneustic.  They  are 
not,  on  the  one  hand,  the  words  of  God,  independent 
of  man ;  nor  are  they,  on  the  other,  the  words  of  a 
man,  independent  of  God.  They  are  the  utterances 
of  a  soul  lifted  above  the  low  level  of  sinful  and  nat- 
ural experiences ;  enlightened,  vitalized,  created  anew 
in  Christ  Jesus.  They  are  not  necessarily  unerring 
utterances,  since  God  has  not  constituted  them 
prophets  and  apostles ;  but  neither  are  they  human, 
as  excluding  the  Divine.  The  words  of  Holy  Writ 
differ  from  such  words  in  authority,  but  not  in  this 
peculiarity  of  authorship.  They  are  neither  Divine 
nor  human,  in  the  disjunctive  sense;  but,  conjunc- 
tively, both,  at  one  and  the  same  time.  They  con- 
stitute neither  a  Divine  expression,  nor  a  human 
expression  of  the  truth;  but  an  expression  at  once 
perfectly  Divine  and  perfectly  human. 

3.  Precisely  what  the  inspiration  of  the  sacred 
writers  did  secure  the  Church  was,  a  rule  of  faith  and 
practice  exactly  equal  in  authority  to  the  oral  teach- 
ings and  commands  of  these  God-sent  messengers. 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  243 

This  we  must  suppose  to  have  been  the  grand 
leading  purpose  of  God  in  causing  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures to  be  written.  Nothing  more  than  such  a  rule 
was  needed ;  nothing  less  would  well  answer.  He 
could  have  preserved  the  purity  of  the  Church's  faith 
by  continuing  the  succession  of  individual  prophets 
down  to  the  end  of  time;  he  could  have  done.it  by 
constituting  the  Roman  popes  and  their  clergy  a  body 
of  infallible  Rabbins  ;  but  having  chosen  to  pour  out 
his  Spirit  upon  all  flesh,  and  slowly  build  up  a  king- 
dom of  heaven  under  the  imperfect  forms  and  proc- 
esses of  historic  evolution,  it  was  needful  that  there 
should  exist  somewhere  in  the  Church  a  standard  by 
which  all  teachings  and  practices  could  be  tested.  So 
long  as  the  apostles  lived,  such  a  standard  existed  in 
their  oral  instructions  ;  since  their  departure,  it  exists 
in  the  writings  in  which  God  caused  them  to  sum  up 
those  instructions.  These  are  to  us  all  that  prophets 
or  apostles  could  be  without  additional  revelations. 
They  are  as  authoritative  for  us  as  would  be  the  vocal 
accents  of  Christ.  They  are  God's  word  to  us  ;  and 
evermore  throughout  the  Church  resounds  the  requi- 
sition, "  If  any  man  speak,  let  him  speak  as  these 
oracles  of  God." 

The  lapse  of  time  forbids  my  taking  up  any  of  the 
doubter's  threadbare  arguments  against  the  fact  of 
Scripture  inspiration,  or  anticipating,  in  any  wise,  ob- 
jections which  may  be  raised  against  the  view  above 
presented  of  its  nature  and  effects.  I  think  the  view 
I  have  imperfectly  suggested  would  aid  in  giving 
new  and  solid  answers  to  some  at  least  of  the  tra- 
ditional arguments   against  the   fact ;   but  already  I 


244  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

have  detained  you  much  too  long.  Accept,  in  place 
of  further  argument,  one  word  of  wisdom.  An  honest, 
truth-loving  mind,  willing  to  seek  the  truth  on  this  or 
almost  any  other  point,  to  seek  it  by  the  light  of 
Christian  experience  and  revelation,  and  especially  by 
the  aids  of  God's  Spirit,  will  seldom  fail  of  satisfac- 
tion. Even  if  darkness  shroud  here  and  there  a 
point,  such  a  mind  has  learned  enough  to  know 
that,  with  increasing  light,  all  darkness  must  disap- 
pear. He  therefore  seeks  the  light,  the  true  light  ; 
walks  in  it ;  and  his  path  grows  brighter  and  brighter 
unto  perfect  day. 

Young  men,  if  you  will  take  this  one  thought 
to  heart,  I  shall  feel  that  I  have  not  come  a  thou- 
sand miles  to  speak  to  you  in  vain.  The  way  to 
find  the  truth  is  to  love  the  truth.  The  way  to  es- 
cape from  our  natural  darkness  is  to  enter  into  the 
light  of  God. 

While  we  have  been  reasoning  together  here,  the 
millions  of  Christian  Europe  have  been  celebrating 
the  martyr-death  of  Mark.  Eighteen  hundred  and 
one  years  ago  yesterday,  they  tell  us,  on  the  feast-day 
of  Serapis,  tutelar  deity  of  Alexandria,  the  holy  evan- 
gelist, then  laboring  in  that  city,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  maddened  heathen.  They  tied  his  feet  to  a 
chariot,  and  dragged  him  through  the  streets  and 
down  to  the  sea-shore,  dragged  him  the  livelong  day 
over  hot  sands  and  stony  banks,  every-where  marking 
their  track  with  shreds  of  flesh  and  a  lengthening 
trail  of  blood.  Exhausted  at  last,  and  marveling  that 
their  victim  died  not,  they  cast  him  into  a  dungeon 
for  the  night.     Eighteen  hundred  and  one  years  ago 


SCRIPTURE  INSPIRATION.  245 

this  morning,*  they  found  him  where  they  had  placed 
him  the  night  preceding,  but  wondrously  refreshed 
and  quickened  by  two  visions  of  glory,  which  had 
been  vouchsafed  him  during  the  darkness.  Again 
they  bind  him  to  the  chariot,  and  drag  his  mangled 
form  till  God,  in  mercy,  grants  him  in  death  a  happy 
deliverance. 

History  tells  us  that,  a  little  more  than  three 
centuries  from  that  day,  the  colossal  image  of  Serapis 
was  dragged,  mutilated  and  dishonored,  through  those 
same  streets  of  Alexandria,  and  Mark  proclaimed  the 
patron  saint  of  the  city.  The  proud  temple  of  the 
idol — one  of  the  grandest  in  the  whole  world — was 
demolished,  while  fanes  sacred  to  Mark  began  to 
rise  throughout  the  earth.  May  we  not  discover  in 
the  fortunes  of  this  perhaps  latest  of  all  the  sacred 
writers  save  John,  a  significant  type  of  the  fortunes 
of  that  inspired  Word  on  which  we  have  been  dwell- 
ing? Ofttimes  has  it  been  dragged  over  the  sharp 
rocks  of  hostile  criticism,  ofttimes  across  the  hot 
sands  of  scorching  sarcasm,  ofttimes  through  the 
mire  of  filthy  jesting:  but  God  has  been  with  it.  It 
refuses  to  die.  Even  when  its  enemies  have  fancied 
it  finally  and  forever  dispatched,  it  has  erelong  re- 
asserted its  indestructible  vitality,  overtoppling  earth- 
born  fanes  of  superstition,  and  replacing  them  with 
temples  not  made  with  hands.  Even  the  works  of 
nature  are  frail,  caducous,  and  transitory,  when  com- 
pared with  this  inspired  Book.  The  grass  withereth, 
the  flower  fadeth,  but  the  Word  of  our  God  abideth 
forever. 

*  April  25,  1869:    Feast  of  St.  Mark. 


Lecture  VIII. 


THE  ALLEGED 


DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE. 


REV.  FALES   H.  NEWHALL,  D.  D., 

Professor  in  Wesleyan  University, 

MlDDLETOWN,  CONN. 


y 


ECTURE  VIII. 


THE  ALLEGED    DISCREPANCIES    OF 
SCRIPTURE. 


Ael  ttolv  to  afydec  avrb  iavT(J  6fjLoXoyovfj.evov  elvai  tc&vttj.     Tw   fiev 
yap  aTirjdel  navra  avvddec.  Aristotle. 


IT  is  very  obvious  that  the  question  of  the  essen- 
tial truthfulness  of  Scripture  is  not  to  remain 
open  until  all  its  manifold  facts  are  seen  to  be 
woven  into  a  harmonious  and  symmetrical  whole. 
Every  candid  objector  must  concede  that  there  may 
be  evidence  sufficient  to  produce  the  conviction  of 
essential  truthfulness,  although  many  details  and 
minutiae  may  appear  exceptional.  Not  until  we  know 
all  things,  can  we  see  all  truth  to  be  perfectly  har- 
monious with  itself.  In  our  study  of  nature  and  of 
history,  after  being  perfectly  convinced  of  certain 
truths,  we  always  find  ourselves  carrying  along  pack- 
ages of  exceptional  facts,  which  we  can  not  at  the 
time  adjust  to  others,  but  which  we  are  sure  that  we 
can,  as  we  grow  wiser,  drop  into  their  proper  places. 
"Nature,"  says  Tyndall,  "is  full  of  anomalies,  which 
no  foresight  can  predict,  and  which  experiment  alone 
can  reveal.  From  the  deportment  of  a  vast  num- 
ber  of  bodies,  we   should   be   led  to   conclude   that 

22  249 


250  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

heat  always  produces  expansion,  and  that  cold  always 
produces  contraction.  But  water  steps  in,  and  bis- 
muth steps  in,  to  qualify  this  conclusion."  Yet  the 
anomalies  of  which  Tyndall  speaks,  when  followed 
out,  lead  to  the  discovery  of  higher  harmonies  in  na- 
ture. By  a  bold  sweep  of  inductive  reasoning,  New- 
ton grasped  the  truth  of  universal  gravitation.  He 
came  into  that  close  sympathy  with  nature  that  led 
him  to  judge,  by  unmistakable  intuition,  that  he  felt 
the  throb  of  her  heart.  There  were  certain  facts  that 
could  not  then  be  reconciled  with  this  induction  ;  yet 
so  overwhelming  was  the  evidence  in  its  favor,  that 
he  felt  sure  that  deeper  study  and  broader  observa- 
tion would  bring  them  into  harmony.  The  history 
of  physical  science  has  justified  this  faith. 

Apparent  irregularities  in  celestial  phenomena 
have  led  to  some  of  the  grandest  discoveries  of 
astronomy.  Mysterious  variations  in  the  position  of 
certain  fixed  stars,  carefully  observed  and  studied  for 
more  than  twenty  years,  led  Bradley  to  the  discovery 
of  the  great  and  fruitful  facts  of  aberration  and  nuta- 
tion ;  the  first  furnishing  final  proof  of  the  progress- 
ive motion  of  light,  and  the  second  showing  that 
the  pole  of  the  earth,  instead  of  describing  a  smooth 
and  uniform  circle  in  its  revolution,  traces  a  wave- 
like curve  among  the  stars.  These  two  facts  have 
given  to  modern  astronomy  its  precision  and  accu- 
racy. Planetary  perturbations  have  been  the  harvest- 
field  of  recent  astronomical  discoverers.  Certain 
irregularities  in  the  path  of  Uranus  led  some  who 
feebly  held  the  cjew  of  nature,  to  speculate  whether 
the  law  of  gravity  at  that  immense  distance  operated 


ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.     25  I 

in  all  its  rigor  ;  but  the  true  astronomer  saw  mir- 
rored in  these  perturbations  another  world,  pacing 
its  solitary  round  as  the  outmost  sentinel  of  the 
solar  system.  Nature's  laws  are  thus  often  found 
by  the  philosopher  to  be  knotted  in  discrepancies, 
which,  when  patiently  disentangled,  have  furnished 
him  threads  to  guide  him  through  new  labyrinths 
of  fact  and  law.  Scripture  discrepancies  are  thus 
the  clews  to  higher  harmonies.  The  true  philoso- 
pher does  not  demand  a  demonstrated  theory  of 
these  irregularities  in  nature.  The  logical  under- 
standing is  not  troubled  by  them,  if  a  plausible 
hypothesis  of  reconciliation  can  be  invented.  A 
reasonable  mind,  which  has  satisfied  itself  on  inde- 
pendent evidence,  as  to  the  essential  truth,  is  content 
if  imagination:  can  suggest  any  adjustment  of  excep- 
tional facts.  In  this  respect  we  should  go  to  Scrip- 
ture, as  the  true  philosopher  goes  to  nature. 

It  may  be,  in  the  first  place,  remarked,  that  mod- 
ern criticism,  with  all  its  acuteness,  has  not  discov- 
ered new  discrepancies  of  any  importance.  Colenso 
and  Strauss  repeat  objections  that  were  urged  against 
the  first  Christian  apologists.  The  "  Wolfenbiittel 
Fragments"  urge  the  same  difficulties  in  the  Gospel 
genealogies,  and  the  same  differences  between  the 
Jesus  of  John  and  the  Jesus  of  the  synoptics,  that 
were  fully  discussed  by  the  early  Christian  fathers. 
Mr.  Parker  thus  stated  the  discrepancy  between  the 
law  and  the  Gospel :  "  Here  are  two  forms  of  re- 
ligion, which  differ  widely,  set  forth  and  enforced  by 
miracles  ;  the  one  ritual  and  formal,  the  other  actual 
and  spiritual ;  the  one  the  religion  of  fear,  the  other 


252  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

of  love ;  one  finite,  and  resting  entirely  on  the  spe- 
cial revelation  made  to  Moses,  the  other  absolute,  and 
based  on  the  universal  revelation  of  God,  who  en- 
lightens all  that  come  into  the  world  ;  one  offers 
only  earthly  recompense,  the  other  makes  immor- 
tality a  motive  to  Divine  life  ;  one  compels  men,  the 
other  invites  them.  One-half  the  Bible  repeals  the 
other  half;  the  Gospel  annihilates  the  law."* 

But  we  find  the  apostles  themselves  profoundly 
pondering  this  problem  of  the  antithesis  between  the 
law  and  the  Gospel,  and  the  first  generation  of  Chris- 
tians bewildered  and  confused  about  its  solution. 
Paul's  acutest  logic  and  profoundest  spiritual  appre- 
hension were  taxed,  to  state  clearly  and  fairly  solve 
this  problem.  It  rent  the  first  Church  at  Jerusalem  ; 
it  brought  upon  Paul  his  heaviest  labors  and  fiercest 
persecutions  ;  it  gave  rise  to  the  Epistles  to  the  Ro- 
mans, the  Galatians,  and  the  Hebrews  ;  the  echoes 
of  this  controversy  ring  through  every  Pauline  speech 
and  letter;  it  was  one  of  the  causes,  or  occasions,  of 
the  formidable  and  wide-consuming  heresy  of  Gnosti- 
cism. Mr.  Parker  declared  this  discrepancy  irrecon- 
cilable and  fatal.  So  did  the  heretics  and  perse- 
cutors of  the  first  two  centuries  ;  and  they  stated 
the  discrepancy  as  sharply  and  urged  it  more  ve- 
hemently than  Mr.  Parker.  Yet,  in  spite  of  it, 
Christianity  has  become  what  she  is.  In  her  very 
cradle  she  throttled  this  dragon  ;  and  will  she  tremble 
before  the  dragon's  seed  to-day?  If  she  proved  the 
old  and  the  new  covenants  to  be  identical  in  essence, 
when  it  was  only  by  faith  that  she  saw  the  Christian 

*  "  Discourses,"  page*  324. 


ALLEGED  DLSCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.     2$$ 

flower  and  fruit  in  the  Judaic  husk,  much  more  will 
she  triumph,  when  the  fragrance  of  those  flowers 
comes  wafted  to  us  through  historic  centuries,  when 
those  ripened  fruits  are  dropping  on  all  lands. 

Another  preliminary  thought  of  special  impor- 
tance is  this :  the  perfect  simplicity,  the  guileless 
confidence,  with  which  the  Scripture  writers  spread 
apparently  conflicting  statements  before  us,  is  most 
suggestive  and  instructive.  While  the  earliest  com- 
mentators, Jewish  and  Christian,  often  manifest  the 
greatest  anxiety  to  reconcile  and  harmonize  these 
discrepancies,  the  Scripture  writers  calmly  go  on 
their  way  without  giving  them  the  least  attention. 
No  editorial  explanation  is  offered  to  adjust  the  two 
narratives  of  creation  ;  they  are  simply  set  side  by 
side,  with  all  their  divergencies  and  contrasts.  There 
is  no  editorial  weighing  of  conflicting  statements  in 
the  Gospels,  no  word  of  comment  to  harmonize  the 
different  accounts  of  Christ's  birth  and  resurrection. 
Thus  is  spread  over  all  the  Scripture  the  artlessness 
of  conscious  truth.  To  the  candid  mind  this  impres- 
sion is  irresistible.  Every-where  assuming  in  the 
most  solemn  manner  its  own  Divine  truthfulness,  yet 
nowhere  anxious  to  vindicate  its  consistency  with  it- 
self, it  reveals  a  sublime  consciousness  of  integrity, 
most  impressive  and  convincing  to  a  healthy  soul. 
So,  when  Moses  wove  into  his  history  the  patriarchal 
narratives  of  creation,  he  left  each  to  tell  its  own 
story.  So  he  wrote  down  the  Decalogue  of  Exodus 
and  the  Decalogue  of  Deuteronomy,  without  minute 
reference  to  the  stony  tablets  ;  not  careful  to  use 
the    identical  words  in  both,  as  a  forger  would   be 


254  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

sure  to  do  where  a  copy  is  professedly  given.  So 
Ezra  gives  us  the  first  and  second  records  of  the 
kings  of  Judah  and  of  Israel,  without  editorial 
alterations  and  corrections  to  bring  them  into  har- 
mony. 

The  value  of  these  discrepancies  is  thus  very  high 
in  enabling  us  to  understand  the  real  nature  of  the 
documents  in  which  they  occur.  They  show  that  we 
have  in  the  Scripture  narratives  the  original  docu- 
ments, the  genealogical  records,  statutes,  speeches, 
songs,  having  all  the  flavor  of  contemporary  author- 
ship, such  as  would  be  called,  in  our  day,  the  raw 
material  for  history,  rather  than  history  itself.  These 
materials  have  never  been  digested  and  assimilated 
into  a  uniform  whole,  in  the  mind  of  any  philosphical 
historian :  no  Thucydides  has  woven  them  into  an 
artistic  treatise.  So  the  Gospels  are  memoirs,  mem- 
orabilia of  Christ's  life,  sayings,  and  doings ;  set  down 
by  different  authors,  at  different  times  and  places. 
The  original  facts  have  not  been  filtered  through  the 
imaginations  or  judgments  of  professional  authors, 
but  are  spread  before  us  in  what  criticism  calls 
rawness,  incompleteness,  and  redundancy  ;  not  fitted 
to  each  other,  or  adjusted  to  any  system  or  theory 
whatever.  Thus  the  narratives  are  often  abrupt,  frag- 
mentary, assuming  and  suggesting  much  that  is  not 
said  ;  or  disappointing,  by  leaving  much  unsaid. 
Thus  Mark  assumes  that  the  reader  is  already  well 
acquainted  with  Jesus  and  with  John  the  Baptist. 
John  adds  a  supplement  to  his  Gospel,  giving  an  ac- 
count of  Christ's  appearance  at  the  Lake  of  Tiberias. 
The  history  of  the  Acts  breaks   off  abruptly  in  the 


ALLEGED  DLSCREPANCIES  OF  SCRLPTURE.      255 

midst  of  Paul's  imprisonment,  without  hinting  any- 
thing about  the  result  of  his  appeal  to  Caesar.  Dis- 
crepancies are  inevitable  in  such  a  mass  of  materials ; 
but  how  valuable  are  they,  as  showing  the  real  char- 
acter of  the  materials,  proving  them  to  be  the  orig- 
inal data  on  which  all  systematic  history  must  be 
founded !  We  have  here  no  secondary  formations 
of  critical  conclusions  or  mythic  imaginings  to  dig 
through,  in  order  to  reach  the  primitive  facts.  The 
discrepancies  of  the  Gospels  thus  furnish  weapons 
with  which  Strauss's  whole  theory  may  be  over- 
turned. This  must  be  admitted  by  any  candid  mind 
that  does  not  start  with  the  dogmatic  assumption 
that  the  supernatural,  being  unnatural,  is  never  to 
be  believed  on  any  evidence  whatever. 

I.  The  first  class  of  discrepancies  that  we  note  are 
those  which  present  us  with  diversities  in  form,  while 
yet  there  is  identity  in  matter.  Truth  is  presented 
us  here  in  manifold  draperies ;  in  phenomena  terres- 
trial and  celestial ;  in  shadows  and  symbols  ;  in  actions 
and  language  ;  in  history,  biography,  argument,  speech, 
and  song ;  in  exhortation,  parable,  and  proverb.  It  is 
declared,  inferred,  intimated,  presupposed  ;  yet  it  is 
ever  one  and  the  same  truth,  speaking  with  all  these 
various  voices  to  the  various  moods  and  conditions  of 
humanity.  Historic  statement  may  be  essential  to 
reach  one  phase  of  mind,  and  parable  or  allegory  to 
reach  another;  and  this  drapery  of  truth  may,  by  its 
wonderful  variety,  display  the  highest  wisdom.  As 
matter  is  obviously  more  essential  than  form,  if  there 
be  essential  identity  in  matter,  diversity  in  manner 


256  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

and  form  is  not  only  not  to  be  deprecated,  but  is  to 
be  desired. 

For  example :  In  the  evangelical  narratives,  Mat- 
thew says  that  at  Jesus'  baptism  a  voice  from  heaven 
was  heard,  which  said,  "This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased  ;"*  while  Lukef  tells  us  that 
the  words  were,  "  Thou  art  my  beloved  Son  ;  in  thee 
I  am  well  pleased."  Now,  it  is  perfectly  clear  that 
both  Matthew  and  Luke  can  not  have  given  us  the 
precise  form  of  words.  One  uses  the  second  person, 
and  the  other  the  third  ;  in  the  one  the  voice  ad- 
dresses the  Savior,  in  the  other  John,  or  the  multi- 
tude ;  yet  the  matter  is  identical.  The  truth  is  the 
same,  whether  spoken  in  the  second  person  or  the 
third.  Such  discrepancies  as  this  may  make  insuper- 
able difficulties  for  an  interpreter  who  regards  the 
Scripture  writers  as  the  mere  amanuenses  of  the  re- 
vealing Spirit ;  but  can  not  perplex  him  who  intelli- 
gently distinguishes  between  matter  and  form.  That 
the  inspired  writers  themselves  made  this  distinction 
is  obvious,  both  from  the  freedom  that  they  exercise 
in  quoting  each  other,  and  from  the  varied  phraseol- 
ogy in  which  the  same  writer  describes  the  same 
events,  and  reports  the  same  spoken  words.  For  ex- 
ample, in  Luke's  narrative  of  Saul's  conversion.^  we 
read,  "And  he  trembling  and  astonished  said,  Lord, 
what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?  And  the  Lord  said 
unto  him,  Arise,  and  go  into  the  city,  and  it  shall  be 
told  thee  what  thou  must  do."  Paul  himself  relates 
this  conversation,  in  his  speech  on  the  stairs  of  the 
tower   of  Antonia,§  in  this  language:    "And  I  said, 

*Matt,  iii,  17.      fLuke  Hi,  22.      J  Acts  ix,  6.      §  Acts  xxii,  10. 


ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.     2$7 

What  shall  I  do,  Lord?  [instead  of  '  What  wilt  thou 
have  me  to  do  T ]  *  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me, 
Arise,  and  go  into  Damascus  [instead  of  'the  city']  ; 
and  there  it  shall  be  told  thee  of  all  things  which  are 
appointed  for  tlice  to  do  [instead  of  'what  thou  must 
do']."i  Again,  in  Paul's  speech  before  Agrippa,^  we 
have  the  revelation  made  to  him  after  his  visit  to 
Ananias,  blended  with  that  made  on  the  road  to 
Damascus ;  for  there  we  read  that  Christ  says,  "  But 
rise,  and  stand  upon  thy  feet :  for  I  have  appeared 
unto  thee  for  this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a  minister 
and  a  witness  both  of  these  things  which  thou  hast 
seen,  and  of  those  things  in  the  which  I  shall  appear 
unto  thee."  In  his  defense  before  Agrippa,  the  time 
and  place  of  this  revelation  were  not  essential ;  it  was 
the  fact  that  he  preached  to  the  Gentiles  in  obedience 
to  a  heavenly  vision  that  he  would  emphasize. 

If  there  were  any  place  where  literal  exactness 
might  have  been  expected,  it  would  certainly  be  in 
the  copying  of  the  Decalogue,  the  commands  written 
in  tables  of  stone ;  where  the  verba  ipsissima  would 
not  only  seem  to  be  of  the  highest  importance,  but 
where  they  must  also  have  been  familiar.  Yet,  in 
comparing  the  two  records  of  the  Decalogue  given  in 
the  Pentateuch, §  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  both  can 
not  be  literal  copies  from  the  tables.  Thus,  in  the 
opening  of  the  Fourth  Commandment,  "  Remember 
the  Sabbath-day,"  Exodus  ||  gives  us  the  verb  "n'DT, 
zachor,  and    Deuteronomy^"    the   verb   "tt'Djft   shamor, 

*  Ti  nonjo-ui,  instead  of  Ti  fxe  fleAeis  iroirfcrcu. 

f  Kepi  wavTiov  Stv,  instead  of  6  ti  ;  and  riTaKrai  <rot  noirjo-at.,  instead  of  <rt 
8el  TroieZv.  %  Acts  XX vi,  1 6. 

§  Ex.  xx,  and  Deut.  v.  I|  Ex.  xx,  8.  1"  Deut.  v,  12. 

23 


258  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

while  the  Deuteronomy  copy  inserts  the  connective 
particle  i,  ve,  before  all  the  Commandments,  from 
the  Sixth  to  the  Tenth,  inclusive.  In  fact,  the 
reason  for  the  observance  of  the  Fourth  Command- 
ment, as  given  in  the  Exodus  copy,  "For  in  six 
days  the  Lord  made  the  heaven  and  the  earth,"  etc., 
is  wholly  omitted  in  Deuteronomy ;  and  in  its  stead 
we  find  an  exhortation  parenthetically  interjected : 
"And  remember  that  thou  wast  a  servant  in  the  land 
of  Egypt,"  etc.  Colenso  presses  these  discrepancies 
as  demonstrating  that  the  Pentateuch  is  not  historic- 
ally reliable ;  but  the  objection  can  have  no  weight, 
except  with  one  who  confounds  matter  and  form.  The 
Scripture  writers  are  all  too  much  busied  with  the 
essentials  of  truth  to  be  critically  punctilious  about 
its  drapery.  They  produce  broad  impressions,  aiming 
at  the  average  heart  and  conscience,  instead  of  choos- 
ing phrases  for  critical  ears.  Spiritual  freedom  eman- 
cipated them  from  the  restraints  that  cramped  and 
fettered  Rabbis  and  Fathers,  as  with  fetters  of  iron. 
The  early  Christian  Fathers,  as  Clement,  Polycarp, 
and  Justin,  show  much  of  the  same  freedom  in 
quoting  Scripture  phraseology ;  but,  as  we  approach 
the  mediaeval  era,  the  letter  stiffens  into  a  stony 
hardness  and  coldness,  that  chills  and  crushes  out 
the  spirit. 

If,  then,  the  objector  press  the  question,  "  Was 
the  word  spoken  on  Sinai  l^r,  or  "tibE*  ?  was  the 
declaration  at  the  baptism  ab  si,  or  ouroq  Iwrtv?*  we 
reply  that  we  do  not  know ;  and  it  is  not  essential 
that  we  should  know,  for  literal  exactness  is  not  es- 
sential to  the  real  purpose  of  revelation.     Had  it  been 


ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.      259 

so,  faithful  phonographers  could  have  given  us  better 
Gospels  than  the  inspired  evangelists  ;  a  Galilean 
Boswell  would  have  been  selected,  rather  than  the 
spiritual  and  contemplative  John.  But  while  the  Di- 
vine Spirit,  bringing  all  things  to  the  remembrance 
of  the  disciple,  does  not  call  up  in  his  memory  the 
precise  language  of  the  heavenly  message,  he  does 
suggest  its  precise  import, — in  Luke,  as  related  to 
the  world  without ;  in  John,  as  related  to  the  world 
within.  Not  to  the  weakness  or  ignorance  of  the 
human  co-worker  in  revelation,  not  to  caprice  or  ac- 
cident, are  we  to  charge  these  irregularities,  or  varia- 
tions from  literal  exactness  in  the  records.  Not 
because  the  substance  is  from  the  Spirit,  and  the 
form  from  the  man,  do  we  find  these  diversities  ;  for 
both  form  and  substance  are  from  the  Spirit  and 
from  the  man.  The  Word  is  Divine  and  human  ; 
the  Divine  coming  through  the  human.  By  this 
variety  in  form,  the  Divine  Spirit  would  teach  us 
that  truth,  while  ever  the  same,  is  yet  ever  manifold. 
The  stiff,  precise  formula  can  set  forth  only  one  of 
its  aspects  ;  its  whole  meaning  can  not  be  cramped 
into  an  inflexible  sentence.  The  Scripture  is  not 
addressed  to  the  logical  understanding,  but  to  the 
man.  It  is  not  a  collection  of  dry  and  bristling 
formulas,  but  of  living  truths  ;  which,  like  the  cher- 
ubim of  the  apocalyptic  vision,  look  before  and  after, 
above  and  beneath,  without  and  within.  Science 
may  gather  up  these  truths  as  well  as  she  can, 
and  arrange  them  in  her  cabinets  of  philosophical 
theology ;  but  she  has  no  right  to  demand  that 
the    winds    of    the    Spirit    should    blow,    and    the 


26o  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

Sun    of    Righteousness    shine,    by    her    tables    and 

formulas. 

II.  In  the  second  place,  there  are  apparent  discrep- 
ancies, not  only  between  different  Scripture  authors, 
but  between  different  works  of  the  same  author,  aris- 
ing from  differences  in  the  point  of  view.  The  same 
truth  is  viewed  on  different  sides,  or  in  different  con- 
nections, or  is  differently  applied,  for  the  enlighten- 
ment and  instruction  of  the  reader.  Under  this 
head  comes  the  subjective  condition  of  Scripture 
authors.  They  are  greatly  diverse  in  mental  char- 
acter, education,  and  circumstances.  They  are  scat- 
tered through  a  series  of  ages,  in  different  lands,  in 
different  civilizations  and  barbarisms.  This  it  is  that 
gives  the  Scripture  its  infinite  variety;  its  wonderful 
manifoldness  in  thought  and  expression ;  its  inex- 
haustible adaptability  to  man,  at  all  periods  of  life, 
and  in  all  the  varied  phases  of  thought  and  feeling, 
and  even  to  the  whims  and  caprices  of  this  mani- 
fold human  nature.  God  speaks  through  kings  and 
through  herdsmen  ;  through  lawgiver  and  statesman, 
philosopher  and  poet ;  through  shepherd,  fisherman, 
and  tent-maker.  He  calls  a  lonely  nomad  from  far- 
off  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  who  wanders  all  his  life, 
pitching  his  tent  among  his  flocks  and  herds.  He 
talks  with  the  lawgiver  among  the  grandeurs  of 
Egyptian  civilization.  He  speaks  to  the  prophet- 
orator,  who  pours  forth  warning  and  invective  and 
consolation,  in  the  gate-ways  of  Jerusalem.  He 
touches  the  harp-string  of  the  shepherd-poet,  so  that 
it    thrills    through    all    time.      He    speaks   from    the 


ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCULPTURE.     26 1 

miry  prison  of  Jeremiah  ;  and  from  the  banks  of  the 
Chebar,  where  Ezekiel  sits  amid  the  solemn  and 
sublime  monuments  of  Assyria.  He  speaks  through 
Solomon,  the  royal  sage,  as  on  his  ivory  throne  he 
receives  embassadors  from  the  ends  of  the  earth ; 
through  Daniel,  the  captive  ;  and  Nehemiah,  the  cup- 
bearer, mourning  the  desolations  of  Zion.  The  dry 
Matthew,  the  graphic  Mark,  the  circumstantial  Luke, 
the  mystic  John,  the  stern  James,  the  fiery  Peter,  and 
the  logical  Paul,  are  various  channels  through  which 
one  and  the  same  spirit  pours  the  water  of  life  upon 
a  thirsty  world.  This  wonderful  variety  can  not 
exist  without  wonderful  diversities.  Seer  and  sage, 
poet  and  logician,  king  and  peasant,  each  sees  his 
own  vision  of  the  same  truth,  and  tells  us  what  he 
sees.  He  who  hath  ears  to  hear  can  feel  that  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  chords  with  the  Psalms  of 
David,  and  the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah  with  the 
great  shout  of  the  triumphant  Church  in  the  Apoca- 
lypse. Many-sided  humanity  could  be  reached  only 
by  this  many-voiced  revelation.  Man  must  be  ad- 
dressed by  man,  else  he  could  not  understand  ;  but 
manifold  men  are  requisite  to  touch  all  the  sides  of 
man.  The  Infinite  Spirit  must  use  a  vast  number 
and  variety  of  finite  channels,  to  pour  itself  upon  the 
world. 

Take,  as  a  first  illustration  of  this  species  of  dis- 
crepancy, the  two  distinct  narratives  of  the  creation, 
as  given  in  the  first  two  chapters  of  Genesis.  The 
second  narrative  is  evidently  distinct  and  independ- 
ent, going  back  to  the  very  beginning,  and  bearing 
a  regular  title :   "  These  are   the  generations  of  the 


262  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

heavens  and  the  earth" — as  we  afterward  read  as 
titles  before  the  histories  of  the  successive  patri- 
archs— "  These  are  the  generations  of  Adam,  Seth, 
Noah,"  etc.  Whether  the  two  narratives  originally 
proceeded  from  one  author  or  from  two  different  au- 
thors, we  do  not  now  consider ;  for,  whether  they  were 
originally  composed,  or  only  finally  revised,  by  the 
inspired  author  of  the  Pentateuch,  is  comparatively 
unimportant.  The  contrast  between  the  two  records 
is  striking,  and  objectors  have  declared  the  discrepan- 
cies to  be  inexplicable.  If  the  book  of  Genesis  com- 
menced with  the  fourth  verse  of  the  second  chapter, 
although  we  should  have  no  distinct  account  of  the 
creation  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  we  should  still  have  a 
full  narrative  of  the  formation  of  the  earth  and  all  its 
inhabitants,  and  especially  a  full  detail  of  the  primeval 
history  of  man.  The  first  narrative  gives  a  record 
of  six  creative  days ;  the  second  speaks  of  the  day 
when  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth.  If 
the  second  narrative  stood  alone,  we  should  certainly 
speak  of  the  creative  day,  instead  of  the  creative 
week.  The  first  narrative  brings  man  upon  the 
scene  at  its  close  ;  the  second  at  its  opening.  The 
first  narrative  speaks  of  man  as  created  in  God's  im- 
age, male  and  female ;  while  the  second  speaks  of  a 
single  man  formed  from  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and 
of  the  woman  formed  from  the  man.  Thus,  if  we 
had  the  first  narrative  without  the  second,  we  should 
think  of  the  human  race  as  brought  into  being  in 
numbers,  like  the  lower  animals,  at  the  close  of  the 
sixth  creative  day.  Of  the  individuals  Adam  and 
Eve,  we  should  know  nothing.     Had  we  the  second 


ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCULPTURE.     263 

narrative  without  the  first,  we  should  certainly  think 
that  a  single  man  was  created  as  the  first  solitary 
inhabitant  of  the  earth  ;  that  after  he  had  begun  to 
feel  his  solitude,  the  lower  orders  of  animals  were 
brought  into  being ;  and  that  the  woman  was  created 
last  of  all.  But  all  these  diversities  vanish  when  we 
consider  that  we  have  here  the  same  events  described 
from  two  different  points  of  view.  The  first  gives 
us  creation  as  viewed  from  without,  as  it  might  be 
described  by  a  spectator  from  another  planet,  taking 
his  stand  upon  the  earth,  and  from  thence  beholding 
the  grand  panorama  move  for  the  six  successive 
days ;  the  second,  as  viewed  from  within,  as  de- 
scribed by  the  being  for  whom  earth  with  its  furni- 
ture and  all  its  lower  inhabitants  were  made.  It 
is  earth  as  seen  by  man,  and  as  related  to  man. 
In  the  first  narrative  the  successive  creative  steps 
are  followed  and  described  with  serene,  impassive 
grandeur,  and  man  is  beheld  taking  his  throne  of 
dominion  at  the  close  of  the  scene  ;  it  is  creation 
as  it  might  have  been  outlined  by  a  seraph,  adoring 
the  creative  Majesty,  but  having  no  throb  of  interest 
in  us.  But  man  is  the  center  of  the  second  narra- 
tive. All  nature  is  focalized  in  him.  As  it  is  inter- 
esting only  from  its  relations  to  him,  it  is  described 
not  as  it  was  made,  feature  after  feature,  in  historical 
succession,  but  simply  as  related  to  him.  The  first 
is  the  world  as  it  is  in  itself,  the  second  is  the  world 
as  related  to  man.  Thus  are  the  two  narratives  not 
contradictory,  but  supplementary  to  each  other ;  the 
first  furnishing  a  broad  and  grand  background  for  the 
fuller  and  warmer  detail   of  the   second.     They  are 


264  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

related  to  each  other  as  a  landscape  sketch  to  the 
picture  of  a  single  inhabited  spot,  which  may  be  but 
a  speck  or  a  line  on  the  sketch,  but  which  so  en- 
larges in  the  picture  as  to  dwarf  or  hide  whole  land- 
scapes of  background.  The  man  of  the  first  narrative 
is  a  far-off,  solitary  king,  with  earth  as  his  palace,  the 
animate  creation  at  his  feet,  the  sun  and  stars  burn- 
ing as  his  lamps  in  the  firmamental  ceiling  above. 
We  can  not  clearly  see  his  face  nor  hear  his  voice. 
The  man  of  the  second  narrative  stands  so  near  us 
as  to  hide  the  mountains,  sun,  and  stars  ;  but  we  can 
hear  him  talk  with  God  and  with  his  own  heart,  as  it 
first  throbs  toward  the  being  who  was  made  bone  of 
his  bones  and  flesh  of  his  flesh. 

The  greater  part  of  the  supposed  discrepancies 
between  the  different  Gospels  disappear  when  we 
consider  that  the  same  facts  are  seen  from  four 
different  points  of  view.  Many,  most,  indeed,  of 
these  difficulties  have  been  created  by  the  presup- 
position that  either  one  of  the  evangelists  composed 
a  strictly  consecutive  chronological  history.  Rules 
of  composition  deduced  from  the  classic  models  have 
been  vainly  appealed  to  and  applied  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Gospel  narratives.  Neither  one  of  these 
writers  aimed  to  produce  a  history  after  the  model 
of  Tacitus  or  of  Thucydides.  There  is  no  attempt 
at  a  philosophical  history  of  the  origin  of  Christianity, 
no  analysis  of  the  character  of  the  Savior,  no  skillful 
historic  perspective,  no  artistic  grouping  of  events, 
no  c+rronological  unfolding  of  the  mustard-seed  truth, 
which  is  destined  to  root  itself  through  the  entire 
earth  and  lift  its  head  to  heaven.     While  men  who 


ALLEGED  DLSCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.     26$ 

insist  on  judging  solely  by  the  rules  of  classic  rhet- 
oric, may  regret  that  the  Divine  Spirit  chose  such 
forms  in  which  to  drape  these  momentous  truths, 
they  can  not  fairly  criticise  the  work,  unless  they 
candidly  compare  it  with  what  it  professes  to  be.  It 
is  not  to  be  judged  by  the  standard  which  our  sci- 
ence decides  it  ought  to  have  reached,  but  simply  by 
the  standard  it  claims  to  reach.  These  histories  are 
trustworthy  if  they  really  are  what  they  profess  to  be. 
That  this  is  what  they  really  are,  is  the  Christian 
apologist's  only  claim.  It  would  seem  to  be  a  very 
obvious  principle,  too  trite  to  need  to  be  stated,  that 
an  author's  point  of  sight  is  not  to  be  learned  from 
a  priori  assumptions  of  what  it  ought  to  have  been, 
but  from  the  author  himself. 

The  discrepancies  which  have  been  most  insisted 
on  as  real,  and  not  apparent,  are  chronological  diversi- 
ties, the  order  of  a  few  minute  events  in  time,  events 
which  all  describe  as  transpiring  within  the  limit  of 
three  brief  years.  Now,  while  all  these  historians 
paint  the  same  general  series  of  great  events,  from 
our  Lord's  birth  to  his  resurrection,  yet  none  of  them 
profess  to  give  such  minute  chronological  data  of  his 
public  ministry,  as  would  be  necessary  to  cast  the 
events  of  those  last  three  years  into  the  form  of  a 
diary.  Although  many  eminent  authors  have  written 
as  if  this  were  possible,  and  many  critics  seem  to  re- 
gard it  as  a  great  desideratum,  we  neither  expect  that 
it  will  ever  be  attained,  nor  do  we  think  that  it  was 
ever  designed  by  the  Spirit,  who  is  the  real  author 
of  the  Gospel.  But  while  neither  evangelist  pro- 
fesses to  write  a  journal,  each  not  only  has  his  own 


266  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

object,  but  makes  it  sufficiently  plain.  Matthew,  who 
wrote  in  Hebrew,  or  rather  Aramaic,  for  the  Christian 
Jews  of  Palestine,  tells  us,  at  the  opening  of  his  work, 
that  he  is  to  set  forth  Christ  as  the  son  of  David,  tJie 
son  of  Abraham.  Mark,  the  preacher  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, calls  his  work  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God.  Luke,,  the  companion  of  Paul,  who  had 
stood  by  that  mighty  apostle,  as,  amidst  the  stormiest 
persecution,  he  aimed  his  heaven-directed  blows  at 
the  partition-wall  which  separated  Jew  and  Gentile, 
writes  for  the  instruction  and  edification  of  those 
Gentile  Churches  which  he  had  helped  to  plant  in 
the  soil  prepared  by  the  Jewish  synagogues  scat- 
tered through  all  the  Mediterranean  islands  and 
peninsulas.  Matthew  looks  backward,  as  indicated 
by  his  Hebrew  garb,  and  sees  the  Gospel  linked  to 
prophetic  Judaism  ;  Mark's  eye  and  heart  are  filled 
with  the  present ;  while  Luke,  with  something  of  a 
Pauline  intuition,  looks  far  into  the  future  and  abroad 
over  the  Gentile  nations.  These  three  writers  regard 
the  Gospel  in  its  aggressive  aspect ;  their  eye  is  on 
its  foes ;  they  give  us  the  words  and  the  works  of 
Christ  as  directed  to  those  without ;  it  is  Christ  as 
seen  and  heard  by  a  world  lying  in  wickedness.  But 
John  gives  us  the  Gospel  as  seen  from  within,  the 
Gospel  as  it  was  poured  into  his  heart,  while  he 
leaned  on  Jesus'  bosom.  These  are  the  rich,  deep 
discourses  in  which,  when  shut  in  with  the  chosen 
twelve,  or  when  gathering  still  closer  to  his  heart  the 
chosen  three,  Jesus  removed  the  veil  from  the  most 
awful  mysteries.  Renan  tells  us  that  the  Christ  of 
John  is  not  the  Christ  of  the  first  three  evangelists. 


ALLEGED  DLSCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.     267 

This  statement  is  true,  and  yet  it  is  false.  Socrates 
in  the  cell,  talking  of  immortality  in  that  little  circle 
of  chosen,  devoted  friends,  is  not  Socrates  before 
the  tribunal,  defending  himself  against  the  charge 
of  blasphemy.  The  face  that  was  turned  toward  the 
tyrant  and  the  sophist  was  not  the  face  that  was 
turned  toward  Phaedo  and  Crito.  Yet  .without  the 
quiet  faith  and  calm  philosophy  of  the  cell,  we  could 
not  understand  the  bold  plea  and  stern  rebuke  at  the 
tribunal.  So,  while  the  other  evangelists  trace  the 
streams,  John  leads  us  to  the  fountain ;  the  synoptics 
show  us  the  beams  of  light  that  burst  from  little 
Galilee  upon  a  darkened  world ;  John  shows  us  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness. 

As  a  single  illustration  of  minor  discrepancies 
arising  from  diverse  points  of  view,  may  be  men- 
tioned the  diverse  accounts  of  the  time  of  our  Sa- 
vior's passion.  Mark  states  *  that  he  was  crucified 
at  the  third  hour,  and  that  he  remained  on  the  cross 
until  the  ninth  hour;  that  is,  from  nine  in  the  morn- 
ing till  three  in  the  afternoon.  Matthew  and  Luke 
do  not  mention  the  precise  hour  of  the  crucifixion, 
but  state  that  he  hung  on  the  cross  at  noon,  the 
sixth  hour,  and  suffered  until  the  ninth  hour,  when 
he  cried  with  a  loud  voice  and  gave  up  the  ghost.f 
But  John  states  that  it  was  about  the  sixth  hour 
when  Pilate  sat  down  in  his  judgment-seat,  on  the 
pavement  before  his  palace,  and  called  Jesus  before 
him. %  If,  now,  the  trial  commenced  at  noon,  it  is 
evident    that    the    execution    could    not    have    taken 

*Chap.  xv,  35.  t  Matthew  xxvii,  45  ;  Luke  xxiii,  44. 

J  Chap,  xix,  14. 


268  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

place  at  nine  in  the  morning.  A  simple  considera- 
tion, however,  harmonizes  these  accounts  at  once. 
There  were  at  Jerusalem  two  different  modes  of 
estimating  time,  the  one  used  by  the  people  and 
the  other  by  the  Government.*  The  people  adopted 
the  Hebrew  mode  of  computation,  and  commenced 
the  day  with  daylight ;  while  the  Government,  the 
courts,  and  official  persons  generally,  all  followed  the 
old  Roman  mode  of  computation,  commencing  the 
day  with  midnight.  In  all  official  transactions  there 
must,  then,  have  been  a  mingling  of  the  two  modes 
of  computation,  the  one  being  employed  by  the 
officers  and  the  other  by  the  people.  Jews  who  had 
received  a  Greek  education,  sometimes  used  one  and 
sometimes  the  other,  f  Now,  granting  that  it  would 
be  more  natural  for  John  to  use  the  popular  reckon- 
ing, it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that,  in  describing  the 
arraignment  of  Jesus  and  his  trial  before  Pilate,  John 
should  have  used  the  official  designations  of  time  ;  in 
other  words,  have  spoken  of  the  hours  in  the  lan- 
guage used  by  Pilate  and  his  officers,  by  those  who 
tried  and  crucified  Jesus.  The  sixth  hour  of  the  Ro- 
man was  the  first  hour  of  the  Jew,  and  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  trial,  such  as  the  cock-crowing, 
the  morning  chill,  which  drove  Peter  into  the  high- 
priest's  hall  to  warm  himself  among  the  servants, 
show  that  Jesus  was  led  to  Caiaphas  very  early  in 
the  day,  and  the  trial  before  Pilate  followed  imme- 
diately. It  can  not  be  demonstrated  that  this  view 
is  correct,  but  with  so  easy  a  solution  of  the  difficulty 

*Cf.  Tholuck  on  John,  I.  39  and  19,  14. 

t  Cf.  Josephus  de  bell.     Jud.,  Lib.  VI,  cap.  9,  3,  and  Vita,  cap.  54. 


ALLEGED  DLSCREPANCLES  OF  SCRIPTURE.     269 

at  hand,  it  would  be  very  rash  to  assume  that  there 
is  a  real  discrepancy. 

III.  Not  only  may  apparent  discrepancy  arise 
from  difference  in  the  points  of  sight  taken  by  the 
authors,  but  also  from  the  same  difference  in  the 
hearers  or  readers  of  Scripture.  Scripture  is  as  di- 
verse as  man,  whose  infinitely  diversified  wants  it 
mirrors,  whose  myriad-chorded  nature  it  touches ;  as 
diverse  as  the  nature  on  whose  bosom  man  is  cradled. 
As  man  is  one,  under  all  shades  of  color,  babbling  all 
varieties  of  language,  dwelling  in  all  climes,  having 
ever  the  same  central  wants,  the  same  sadness  and 
gladness, — so  is  this  book  most  Divinely  human,  in 
its  vital  unity  amid  infinite  diversity.  Now,  if  we 
take  up  our  abode  in  the  center  of  Sahara,  it  may  be 
easy  to  quarrel  with  nature ;  so  if  we  pitch  our  tent 
amid  the  rites  of  Leviticus,  the  cavils  and  doubts  of 
Ecclesiastes,  or  the  strange  and  startling  symbols  of 
Ezekiel,  we  may  easily  quarrel  with  Scripture  ;  yet 
there  is  an  Arab  to  whom  the  desert  is  home,  and 
there  is  a  tropic  soul  for  whom  the  jungles  of  Ezekiel 
are  none  too  rank  and  warm.  He  who  stands  on 
John's  mount  of  vision,  does  not  care  to  follow  the 
steps  of  a  Pauline  demonstration ;  and  he  who  ever 
plods  along  logical  highways,  can  never  swoop  upon 
truth  with  apocalyptic  intuition. 

Scripture  addresses  diverse  faculties,  as  well  as 
diverse  men.  The  song  may  perfectly  harmonize 
with  the  syllogism  ;  yet  it  is  hard  for  the  man  who 
is  influenced  mainly  by  reason  to  agree  with  him  who 
is  swayed  mainly  by  feeling,  and  harder  to  see  that  it 


270  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

is  the  same  truth,  under  different  aspects,  that  they 
both  believe.  It  takes  a  comprehensive  mind  to  dis- 
tinguish the  same  voice,  now  speaking  to  reason,  now 
to  understanding,  and  now  to  imagination,  as  the 
chemist  sees  the  same  water,  now  exhaling  in  vapor, 
now  dropping  in  rain,  now  feathering  in  snow,  and 
now  flashing  in  ice.  The  graceful  drapery  of  a  sym- 
bol reveals  to  one  a  truth  that  another  refuses  to 
see  unless  skeletoned  in  a  dogma.  When  Socrates 
roused  himself  from  his  last  stupor  to  adjure  Crito 
not  to  forget  to  sacrifice  a  cock  to  yEsculapius,  he  de- 
clared his  faith  in  immortality  far  more  clearly  and 
beautifully  than  when  arguing  away  the  doubts  of 
Simmias.  He  would  have  his  friend  carry  a  thank- 
offering  for  him  to  the  god  of  health,  because  that, 
through  death,  he  has  found  life  at  last.  Yet  dull 
men  have  quoted  this  passage  of  the  Phaedo,  to 
prove  that  Socrates  died  in  superstitious  doubt. 
They  could  understand  the  reasoning  that  plodded 
toward  truth  by  short,  slow  steps,  but  could  not  un- 
derstand the  Platonic  symbolism  that  revealed  truth 
as  by  a  flash  of  lightning.* 

IV.  There  is  also  an  apparent  discrepancy  be- 
tween the  whole  and  the  part,  between  the  concise 
and  the  detailed  narratives  of  the  same  events.  This 
is  closely  connected  with  what  we  .have  just  discussed  ; 
as  discrepancy  arising  from  diverse  points  of  view,  in 
fact,  as  will  appear  from  our  illustrations,  is  the  same, 
under  another  phase.  Sometimes  one  writer  sketches 
what  another  paints,  as  the  second  chapter  of  Gen- 
*  Phaedo,  Ed.  Stallb.,  118  A.;  cf.  Stallbaums'  Note. 


ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.     27 1 

esis  fills  out  a  sketch  given  in  two  verses  of  the  first ; 
as  Mark  adds  graphic  touches  and  warm  colorings  to 
the  bare  outline  of  Matthew ;  as  Luke,  in  the  book 
of  Acts,  draws  out  into  minute  narrative,  incidents 
just  alluded  to  in  the  Pauline  epistles.  Events  are 
grouped  together,  in  single  verses  or  lines  of  the 
Psalms  and  the  prophets,  which,  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment narratives,  are  painted  in  full  historical  per- 
spective. Under  this  head  are  to  be  explained  most 
of  the  diversities  in  the  genealogical  tables  of  Scrip- 
ture. As  these  records  of  lineage  furnished  the 
framework  for  the  most  cherished  hopes  of  the  He- 
brew people,  they  are  preserved  with  exceeding  care.* 
The  prerogatives  and  privileges  of  the  priesthood, 
the  fulfillment  of  the  ancient  prophecies  and  of  his- 
toric promises,  and  especially  the  splendid  Messianic 
hopes  of  the  nation,  all  were  guarded  and  guaranteed 
by  these  genealogical  catalogues.  Yet,  where  the 
ancestors  of  the  same  individual  are  several  times 
given,  comparison  shows  that  some  links  in  the  chain 
are  frequently  dropped ;  it  is  not  necessary  in  the 
mind  of  the  author  always  to  unroll  it  at  full  length  ; 
it  is  enough  to  mention  several  selected  ancestors 
scattered  along  the  line,  and  thus  a  man  may  be 
styled  the  son  of  an  ancestor  of  the  third  or  fourth 
generation.  Ezra,  the  scribe,  who  had  complete  ac- 
cess to  all  these  records,  gives  his  priestly  lineage  up 
to  Aaron,  the  founder  of  the  priesthood,  and  yet  omits 
several  generations  that  are  given  in  the  first  book 
of  Chronicles.  So  when  Matthew,  for  mnemonic 
purposes,    as   well   as   to   set   forth    the   three    great 

*Cf.  Josephus,  in  his  first  Book  against  Apion. 


2J2  IXGIIAM  LECTURES. 

epochs  of  Hebrew  history — its  patriarchal  childhood, 
its  royal  maturity,  and  its  provincial  decline — groups 
the  ancestors  of  the  Savior  in  three  fourteens,  or 
double-sevens,  headed  respectively  by  Abraham,  the 
patriarch,  by  David,  the  royal  minstrel,  and  Jechonias, 
the  exiled  monarch,  he  drops  out  three  generations. 
Yet  that  these  three  omitted  names  were  perfectly 
familiar"  to  him,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  they 
were  well-known  historic  names,  the  names  of  kings 
of  Judah,  the  events  of  whose  reigns  were  fully  re- 
corded in  the  books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles.  Every 
Jew,  with  the  Old  Testament  in  his  hand,  knew  the 
names  of  Amaziah,  Joash,  and  Ahaziah.  Had  these 
been  the  names  of  obscure  or  unknown  individuals, 
the  case  would  have  been  very  different.  But  no  ob- 
jector at  this  day  doubts  that  Matthew  had  before 
him  the  Old  Testament  history,  in  Hebrew  and 
Greek,  subtantially  the  same  as  we  have  it  to- 
day. It  was  not,  then,  through  ignorance  that 
these  historic  names  were  omitted,  but  by  de- 
sign ;  because  their  insertion  would  not  agree  with 
the  author's  plan  in  the  presentation  of  his  subject. 
Objectors  may  criticise  this  plan,  that  it  is  not  ac- 
cording to  classic  models  ;  they  may  object  to  the 
Hebrew  conception  of  the  object  and  character  of 
history,  and  may  complain  that  these  records  are 
imperfect  and  unsatisfactory,  when  judged  by  the 
rules  of  composition  that  have  been  drawn  from 
heathen  histories, — but  all  this  does  not  prove  that 
these  authors  are  inconsistent  with  themselves  or 
with  each  other,  and  does  not  in  the  least  impeach 
their  reliability,  when  their  real  stand-point  is  found. 


ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.     273 

And  in  this  respect  no  more  is  demanded  for  them 
than  for  any  heathen  authors  ;  for  no  author  can  be 
understood,  and  seem  to  be  consistent  with  himself 
and  with  truth,  until  we  fully  understand  his  point  of 
view.  In  this  respect  every  author  is  a  law  unto 
himself;  and  so  every  school  of  authors,  and  every 
literature,  has  its  own  laws,  which  are  to  be  candidly 
and  thoroughly  studied,  as  facts,  before  any  theory  of 
the  subject  can  properly  be  constructed.  A  man  has 
no  right  to  dogmatize  about  the  Hebrew  histories 
who  is  willfully  blind  to  the  principles  on  which  those 
writers  looked  at  all  historical  events.  Every  thing 
is  viewed  by  them  in  its  relation  to  the  Divine  gov- 
ernment and  purposes.  Events  are  selected  and 
grouped,  and  set  in  the  foreground  or  the  background, 
according  to  this  plan.  Thus,  in  the  passage  before 
us,  generations  are  so  selected,  from  Abraham,  the 
father  of  the  Jewish  nation,  to  Joseph,  the  last  de- 
scendant of  Judah's  royal  line,  as  to  set  forth,  in 
three  corresponding  and  symmetrical  pictures,  the 
successive  phases  of  Hebrew  history,  till  God's  pur- 
poses concerning  that  wonderful  people  ripened  into 
fulfillment.  When  the  long-promised  seed  of  Abra- 
ham, the  Branch  from  the  stem  of  Jesse,  the  King 
of  all  kings,  appeared  in  this  royal  line,  the  nation, 
having  fulfilled  its  mission,  sank  from  human  history. 
The  same  law  of  Hebrew  composition  is  also  seen 
in  the  apocalyptic  vision  of  the  hundred  and  forty- 
four  thousand  that  were  sealed  of  the  twelve  tribes 
of  Israel.  Dan  is  omitted  from  the  list,  probably 
because  of  its  idolatrous  apostasy,  and  Joseph  is  in- 
serted instead  of  Ephraim,  his  son,  who  is  regarded 

24 


2 74  INGHA M  LEC TURES. 

as  joined  to  his  idols.  No  one  will  pretend  that  the 
author  of  Revelation  was  ignorant  on  so  familiar  a 
subject  as  the  names  of  the  tribes. 

This  habit  of  compressing  a  genealogical  series, 
dropping  out  intermediate  links,  thus  giving  a  part 
for  the  whole,  when  it  is  not  the  author's  design  to 
spread  out  the  whole  family  history  of  an  individual, 
but  simply  to  show  the  relation  to  some  remote  an- 
ancestor;  as  when  Ezra  is  shown  to  be  the  son  of 
Aaron  by  the  mention  of  several  intermediate  gener- 
ations, and  as  when,  in  like  manner,  Christ  is  set 
forth  as  the  son  of  David,  the  son  of  Abraham, — this 
habit  of  representation  should  be  considered,  in  cal- 
culating chronology  from  genealogical  series.  Much 
more  time  may  have  elapsed  than  would  be  inferred 
from  supposing  the  series  before  us  to  be  complete. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  Hebrew  narratives  may 
here  be  mentioned,  which,  although  chiefly  to  be  as- 
signed to  the  difference  in  the  point  of  view,  com- 
bines both  sources  of  discrepancy  already  discussed. 
The  narrative  follows  a  logical,  rather  than  a  chron- 
ological, order,  tracing  an  event  out  to  its  conse- 
quences, paying  no  attention  to  contemporary  or 
immediately  subsequent  events  at  the  time,  but  after- 
ward returning  to  take  them  up  and  follow  them  out 
in  like  order.  Thus  successive  portions  of  narrative 
are  not  chronologically  successive,  but  lap  over  each 
other  in  time,  like  a  series  of  parallel  lines  in  which 
the  beginning  of  the  second  is  opposite  the  middle 
of  the  first,  the  beginning  of  the  third  opposite  the 
middle  of  the  second,  and  so  on.  Thus,  the  history 
of  a  patriarch  is  traced  through,  and  then  that  of  his 


ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.      2?$ 

son  is  taken  up  from  the  beginning.  Sometimes  the 
narratives  resemble  a  series  of  parallels  of  different 
lengths,  yet  all  beginning  on  the  same  perpendicular 
line.  Thus,  the  first  and  second  narratives  of  the 
creation,  at  the  beginning  of  Genesis,  commenced  at 
the  same  point ;  but  the  second  runs  out  into  a  full 
detail  of  the  sixth  day's  work,  and  is  followed  by  the 
history  of  Cain  and  his  posterity.  The  fifth  chapter 
then  commences  back  again  at  the  creation  of  man, 
as  if  it  had  not  been  mentioned  before,  and  follows 
the  line  of  Seth  as  far  as  Noah.  The  sixth  chapter 
begins  back  again  amid  the  corruption  which  ensued 
when  men  first  began  to  multiply  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  and  comes  down  through  the  generations  again 
to  Noah,  entering  on  his  family  history  as  if  it  had 
not  been  alluded  to  before ;  and  then  follows  the  de- 
tail of  the  flood.  Thus,  an  event  which  is  just 
sketched  in  one  narrative,  may  be  fully  painted  in 
the  parallel  narrative,  and  the  contrast  may  easily 
be  magnified  into  a  discrepancy. 

V.  There  are  two  other  kinds  of  apparent  dis- 
crepancy that  we  will  mention,  arising  from  the 
limitations  of  the  human  mind  considered  as  the  re- 
cipient of  revelation.  The  first  is  the  discrepancy,  or 
rather  contrast,  between  the  subjective  and  the  ob- 
jective, between  things  as  they  are  and  things  as 
they  seem  to  man.  We  know  things  only  through 
their  attributes,  and  have  no  right  to  assume  that  all 
attributes  come  within  reach  of  our  cognitions.  By 
what  we  can  cognize  we  learn  enough  about  different 
natures   to   answer   all    life's   practical   ends ;    but   it 


276  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

would  be  very  short-sighted  to  suppose  that  thus  we 
can  learn  enough  to  satisfy  all  speculative  cravings, 
or  can  thus  infer  how  things  appear  to  more  highly 
endowed  intelligences.  Human  perception  is  not  the 
gauge  of  the  universe.  For  aught  we  know,  the  rose 
may  show  to  superior  beings,  or  even  to  the  in- 
sects that  hover  over  its  petals,  a  hundred  other  at- 
tributes as  pleasing  as  color  and  odor,  for  which 
human  language  has  no  names.  Our  faculties  can 
be  relied  on  as  far  as  they  go,  yet  they  go  but  a  short 
distance  into  the  infinite. 

God,  the  Infinite,  can  never  be  fully  known  to  any 
finite  intelligence.  Here  there  must  ever  be  an  an- 
tithesis between  the  subjective  conception  and  the 
objective  reality.  Yet  the  conception  may  be  correct 
as  far  as  it  goes  ;  deficient,  rather  than  erroneous. 
Our  conceptions  may  thus  be  used  to  reveal  the  in- 
conceivable, while  yet  we  are  saved  from  error  by 
counter-statements  addressed  to  the  reason.  "  His 
ways  are  not  our  ways,  nor  his  thoughts  our 
thoughts."  ..."  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
time ;"  yet,  through  these  very  thoughts  and  ways  of 
ours,  he  reveals  himself  in  the  written  word,  while 
the  Incarnate  Word  makes  us  see  the  Invisible  God. 
This  is  a  paradox,  but  it  is  not  the  paradox  of  rev- 
elation only,  but  of  all  instruction.  The  lessons  of 
the  instructor,  to  be  of  any  value  whatever,  must  be 
accommodated  to  the  capacity  of  the  pupil.  The 
objective  must  be  made  subjectively  apprehensible. 
Thus  must  there  ever  be  an  antithesis  between  truth 
absolute  and  truth  as  conceived  by  a  finite  intel- 
ligence. 


ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.      277 

If  we  insist  on  the  objective  reality,  and  proudly 
scorn  all  subjective  aids,  our  God  becomes  an  inac- 
cessible, icy  Absolute,  the  thought  of  whom  freezes 
every  moral  impulse  into  death ;  but  if  we  allow  our- 
selves to  be  instructed  by  God  through  the  same 
symbolism  by  which  we  instruct  each  other,  then  can 
we  accept  the  statements,  "They  saw  the  God  of 
Israel,"  and  "  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time," 
and  feel  that  there  is  no  contradiction.  In  manifold 
modes  is  the  truth  enforced  and  reiterated,  that  God 
is  not  limited  by  a  material  form.  "  God  is  a  Spirit," 
said  Christ  to  the  Samaritan  woman  at  Jacob's  well. 
"Ye  saw  no  manner  of  similitude  in  the  day  that 
Jehovah  spake  unto  you  in  Horeb  out  of  the  midst 
of  the  fire,"  says  Moses  to  Israel.  Yet  this  formless 
God  speaks  with  Moses,  and  that,  "face  to  face!" 
Yea,  the  Psalm  that  sets  forth,  in  language  of  unparal- 
leled grandeur,  the  omnipresent  spirituality  of  Jeho- 
vah, yet  assigns  him  human  hands!  "If  I  ascend 
up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there :  if  I  make  my  bed  in 
hell,  behold,  thou  art  there.  If  I  take  the  wings  of 
the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
sea;  even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy 
right-hand  shall  hold  me."*  With  what  Divine  skill 
is  the  ineffable,  and  wholly  inconceivable,  objective 
truth  made,  in  this  wondrous  Psalm,  subjectively  ap- 
prehensible to  the  soul! 

VI.  The  last  kind  of  discrepancy  that  we  shall 
mention,  is  that  which  necessarily  arises  from  prog- 
ress  in  revelation.     It  is   the  contrast  between  the 

*  Psalm  cxxxix,  8-10. 


278  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

sketch  and  the  picture,  between  the  seed  and  the 
tree,  between  the  foundations  and  the  temple.  The 
egg  would  be  called  dead,  most  confidently,  by  him 
who  had  never  seen  the  eagle  that  is  folded  in  the 
germ  ;  the  law  is  dead  to  vhim  who  has  never  felt, 
through  the  embryonic  envelope  of  precept  and  cere- 
mony, the  quickening  of  the  Gospel  germ  that  waits 
the  age-long  broodings  of  the  Spirit  to  bring  it  into 
perfect  life.  Revelation  comes  in  successive  stages 
adapted  to  advancing  man.  The  wisdom  of  the 
Divine  Teacher  commends  itself  to  us,  in  that  it 
adapts  its  lessons  to  the  capacity  of  the  pupil. 
The  patriarchal,  Mosaic,  prophetic,  and  Christian 
revelations  are  successive  stages  in  the  same  great 
process,  each  intermediate  step  starting  from  those 
which  precede  and  suggesting  those  that  follow.  The 
lofty  ethics  and  sublime  visions  of  the  prophets,  both 
in  form  and  substance,  presuppose  the  Mosaic  law 
and  ritual.  The  Psalms  of  David  could  never  have 
been  sung  in  a  nation  that  had  not  been  trained  for 
centuries  in  the  statutes  of  the  Pentateuch ;  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Romans  requires  as  its  preface  not  only 
the  Gospel  according  to  the  evangelists,  but  the 
Gospel  according  to  Abraham,  Moses,  and  Isaiah. 
Revelation  is  to  be  judged  by  its  own  claim  to  be 
the  Word  of  God  to  man,  not  scattered  utterances 
to  diverse  peoples  in  different  ages.  It  is  spoken  to 
the  race  as  one,  in  all  nations,  ages,  and  grades 
of  progress  ;  and  this  is  the  claim  by  which  it  is 
to  be  judged.  It  is  not  Jewish,  Greek,  or  Roman, 
but  human ;  it  is  cosmic  in  its  aims  and  plans. 
Its   utterances    should,   therefore,   have  a  depth   and 


ALLEGED  DLSCREPANCLES  OF  SCRLPTURE.     279 

breadth  and  weight,  such  as  to  penetrate  all  lands  and 
ages.  It  hastes  not,  and  yet  it  rests  not,  until  its 
message  is  complete.  Abraham,  the  God-fearing 
patriarch,  is  called  to  go  forth  from  his  father's 
house  in  Chaldea,  and  wander  in  a  strange  land, 
pitching  his  tent  in  the  grove,  the  plain,  and  the 
desert,  that  day  by  day  and  year  by  year  he  may  be 
trained  to  become  the  father  of  a  missionary  nation, 
whose  message  to  the  world  shall  be  faith  in  the 
one  only  God.  This  nation  is  then  educated  in  the 
school  of  centuries,  by  the  Nile  and  by  the  Jordan  ; 
in  the  terrible  Syrian  Desert,  and  in  the  delightful 
land  where  the  vales  ran  milk  and  the  rocks  dropped 
honey  ;  at  the  feet  of  the  bare  black  peaks  of  Sinai, 
and  on  the  slopes  of  Ebal  and  Gerizim ;  by  centuries 
of  royal  splendor,  and  by  generations  of  heart-break- 
ing captivity ;  by  lawgiver,  warrior,  orator,  poet, 
priest,  and  seer ;  by  tabernacle  and  temple  ;  by  stat- 
ute, ceremony,  and  sacrifice ;  by  the  loftiest  commands, 
most  terrible  threats,  and  most  inspiring  promises. 
In  a  word,  by  a  history,  national  literature,  faith,  and 
character,  wholly  unique,  was  the  Hebrew  people 
trained  to  be  God's  messenger  to  all  nations.  This 
was  the  John  the  Baptist  crying  in  the  wilderness 
of  heathen  idolatries,  to  prepare  the  way  before  the 
Desire  of  all  nations.  When  he  appeared,  that 
nation's  work  was  done ;  its  temple  fell ;  and  the 
glory  which  had  waxed  from  Moses  to  Solomon,  and 
waned  from  Solomon  to  Herod,  went  out  in  dark- 
ness forever.  .  .  .  The  great  day  of  revelation 
advanced  from  the  gray  twilight  of  the  patriarchal 
era    to    the    deeper    hues    of   the    Mosaic    covenant, 


28o  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

through  the  morning  tints  of  prophecy,  to  the  splen- 
did Gospel  noon  ;  yet  was  the  light  ever  from  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness.  Christianity,  that  mighty 
tree,*  which  is  fast  drawing  up  into  its  branches  all 
the  juices  of  the  earth,  was  wrapped  up  in  the  mus- 
tard-seed promise  given  to  the  woman  on  the  day  of 
the  fall.  Abraham  saw  Christ's  day,  and  was  glad  ; 
yet  he  knew  not  what  he  saw.  Moses  never  saw  the 
rich  kernel  that  God  had  hidden  in  the  ceremonial 
husk.  The  Hebrew  nation  toiled  for  weary  centuries 
on  the  Mosaic  scaffolding  around  the  Christian  tem- 
ple ;  yet  most  of  these  busy  workmen  saw  nothing 
but  the  scaffolding,  and  dreamed  not  of  the  Divine 
beauty  and  harmony  of  pillar  and  architrave,  frieze 
and  cornice,  within.  At  last  the  top-stone  was  laid, 
the  Lord  of  hosts  came  suddenly  to  his  temple,  and 
lo  !  the  scaffolding  fell,  and  the  workmen,  who  knew 
not  what  they  builded,  were  scattered  forever.  It  is 
easy  to  show  that  the  messenger  does  not  under- 
stand the  full  import  of  the  message  ;  that  the  work- 
man, whose  life  is  spent  on  a  single  column,  has  no 
conception  of  the  temple;  that  there  is  a  contrast 
between  the  rough  scaffolding  and  the  polished 
marble;  but  let  revelation  be  judged  by  its  own 
claims,  and  there  is  no  discrepancy.  Prickly  rites 
and  thorny  ceremonies  were  absolutely  necessary  to 
guard  the  precious  flower,  whose  fragrance  was  to  fill 
all  lands  and  ages.  The  law  seemed  slavish ;  but,  as 
Paul  said,f  it  was  the  slave  whose  office  it  was  to  lead 
humanity  to  the  feet  of  the  great  Teacher.  Christ 
proclaimed  a  contrast,  not  a  contradiction,  between 
*Neander's  "Church  History :"  Introduction,      t  Galatians  iii,  24. 


ALLEGED  DLSCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.     28 1 

law  and  Gospel.  He  brushed  away  Pharisaic  glosses, 
wiping  off  the  mold  that  had  gathered  on  the  tablets 
of  Moses  ;  as  he  said,  "  Ye  have  heard  that  it  hath 
been  said,  .  .  .  but  I  say  unto  you."  Yet  he 
pointed  to  the  traces  of  the  Divine  finger,  as  he  de- 
clared, "  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  till  heaven  and  earth 
pass,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from 
the  law  till  all  be  fulfilled."  Paul,  in  whom  the 
Christian  Church  burst  complete  from  the  Hebrew 
chrysalis,  asked,  "Do  we,  then,  make  void  the  law 
through  faith  ?"  and  replied,  "  Nay,  we  establish  the 
law."  Certainly,  Paul,  who  presided  over  that  revo- 
lution, amid  whose  earthquake-throes  the  Church  was 
born,  better  understood  the  nature  of  the  struggle 
than  those  who  to-day  preach  Christianity  without 
Judaism.  For  Christianity  without  Judaism  is  an 
oak  without  roots,  a  cathedral  without  foundations. 

As  the  man  sees  truths  that  are  hidden  from  the 
child,  so  great  doctrines  concerning  the  nature  of 
God  and  of  man,  and  their  mutual  relations,  of 
which  the  race  in  its  childhood  had  but  a  shadowy 
apprehension,  are  revealed  to  the  mature  man. 
Thus  is  it  with  the  doctrines  of  the  Trinity,  the  in- 
carnation, immortality,  and  resurrection.  Yet  these 
great  truths  are  outlined  in  the  earliest  revelations. 
The  finished  picture  of  the  Gospel  but  completes 
the  sketch  of  the  patriarchal  age.  Those  wandering 
shepherds  of  Syria,  those  Egyptian  slaves  of  the  age 
of  the  Pharaohs,  who  believed  that  their  ancestor, 
Enoch,  "walked  with  God,  and  was  not,  because 
God  took  him,"  had  views  of  immortality  far  more 
clear  to  the  intellect  and  comforting  to  the  heart  than 

25 


282  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

Plato  taught,  a  thousand  years  later,  in  the  groves  of 
the  academy.  Yet  the  splendor  that  Christ  has  shed 
upon  immortal  life  makes  that  patriarchal  faith  ap- 
pear as  a  twilight  gleam.  Creation,  by  the  Divine 
Word,  as  revealed  on  the  first  page  of  the  Scrip- 
ture, corresponds  mysteriously  with  the  profound 
utterances  on  the  first  page  of  John's  Gospel — 
"  The  Word  was  God ;  all  things  were  made  by 
him."  The  Jehovah-angel  who  hears  and  answers 
the  prayers  of  the  patriarchs,  identifying  himself  with 
the  one  only  God  in  whom  they  so  firmly  believed, 
was  the  morning  star  before  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness, or  rather  that  Sun  himself,  shining  through 
the  mists  of  the  morning.  In  the  blood-besprinkled 
altars  of  patriarch  and  Levite,  were  given  the  pre- 
paratory instructions  for  the  profoundly  mysterious 
lesson  of  Calvary,  which  concentrates,  in  one  daz- 
zling focus,  all  the  manifold  rays  of  revelation. 

There  is  much  error  in  our  day  concerning  the 
progress  of  religious  ideas.  The  most  advanced  cul- 
ture of  our  day  may  profitably  sit  at  the  feet  of  those 
far-off  Syrian  shepherds.  The  grand  fundamental 
truths  that  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  theology,  the 
truths  of  the  Divine  unity,  spirituality,  and  suprem- 
acy, did  not  come  to  the  world  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment revelation,  nor  from  Greek  or  Oriental  philoso- 
phy ;  they  are  as  clearly  written  on  the  oldest  pages 
of  the  Hebrew  Bible  as  anywhere  in  literature. 

When  will  our  advancing  race,  in  its  spiritual  de- 
velopment, outgrow  the  Hebrew  Psalms?  The  most 
advanced  Christian  of  to-day  finds  these  ancient 
songs  and  prayers,  which  burst  from   the  hearts  of 


ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.     283 

Hebrew  minstrels,  prophets,  priests,  and  kings,  twenty 
to  thirty  centuries  ago,  voicing  more  perfectly  than 
any  other  language  his  profoundest  meditations,  his 
sternest  struggles,  his  sublimest  joys  and  aspirations. 
It  is  not  mere  traditional  reverence  that  has  bound 
the  Hebrew  Psalter  on  the  heart  of  the  Christian 
Church.  The  eternal  glow  of  the  wondrous  book 
draws  humanity  of  all  ages  to  its  quenchless  warmth. 
Some  of  these  strains  drop  like  angels  to  the  darkest 
depths  of  human  agony  ;  and  there  are  others  that 
blow  the  hurricanes  from  their  trumpets,  and  clash 
the  thunders  from  their  cymbals,  to  pour  forth  the 
grandest  joys  a  mortal  heart  can  know.  It  is  sig- 
nificant and  instructive,  that  the  fierce  conflicts  and 
triumphant  victories  of  New  Testament  saints,  find 
adequate  utterance  only  in  Old  Testament'  songs. 
Even  the  Savior,  at  the  midnight  moment  of  his 
mysterious  agony,  gave  vent  to  his  soul  in  a  line  of 
an  ancient  Psalm.  Paul,  as  he  finishes  his  survey  of 
the  resurrection,  the  distinctive  doctrine  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  lay  at  the  core  of  every  apostolic 
sermon,  could  close  only  in  the  triumphant  strain  of 
Isaiah,  "  Death  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  victory." 
John,  who  had  leaned  on  Jesus'  breast,  and  whose 
very  soul  was  steeped  in  the  essence  of  the  New 
Testament  revelations ;  this  John  of  Tabor,  and 
Gethsemane,  and  Calvary,  when  he  would  paint  the 
final  visions  of  the  prophetic  Gospel,  uses  the  brush 
and  canvas  and  colors  of  Daniel  and  Ezekiel ;  nay, 
he  leads  us  back  to  the  very  spot  whence  we  started 
with  Moses  on  this  wondrous  circuit  of  revelation, 
and   leaves   us   at   last   under   the   branches   of  that 


284  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

same  tree  of  life  where  stood  Adam  and  Eve,  to 
hear  the  first  whispers  of  revelation.  Is  this  a  dis- 
crepancy between  the  New  Testament  and  the  Old  ? 
Is  it  not  rather  a  profound,  world-wide,  and  age-long 
harmony  ?  « 

We  have  thus  looked  at  the  apparent  discrepan- 
cies of  Scripture  under  six  different  heads,  as  result- 
ing, (I)  from  the  difference  in  form  ;  (II)  from  the 
difference  in  the  author's  points  of  view ;  (III)  from 
the  difference  in  readers  or  hearers ;  (IV)  from  the 
difference  between  the  whole  and  the  part ;  (V)  from 
the  difference  between  the  subjective  and  objective; 
and  (VI)  from  the  difference  between  the  seed  and 
the  tree.  We  are  confident  that,  by  some  one  or 
more  of  these  formulas,  all  the  problems  of  discrep- 
ancy can  be  solved.  The  more  deeply  we  study 
Scripture,  the  more  deeply  do  we  feel  its  profound 
analogy  with  nature.  Nature  does  not  arrange  her 
flowers  in  herbariums ;  her  animals  and  minerals, 
and  elements,  in  museums,  cabinets,  and  laboratory 
phials.  She  intermingles  all  together  in  that  beau- 
tiful and  sublime  confusion  that  clothes  the  world 
with  an  infinite  charm  and  makes  it  a  gymnasium 
for  all  the  faculties  of  the  soul.  The  chemist  may 
dwell  among  his  powders  and  gases  ;  the  botanist 
may  love  his  dried  leaves  and  seeds  ;  but  the  man 
loves  the  multitudinous  forest,  the  myriad-mooded 
sea.  An  uninspired  theologian  would  have  cast  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  in  a  series  of  metallic  syl- 
logisms, and  nailed  down  its  theses  in  a  sort  of 
Nicene  creed  ;  and  it  would  have  been  read  by  men 
who   love  logic   and   system,   and  by   no   others ;    a 


ALLEGED  DISCREPANCIES  OF  SCRIPTURE.     285 

Strauss,  who  had  seen  the  truths  that  John  saw, 
would  have  arranged  them  like  shelves  of  fossils ;  a 
Niebuhr  or  a  Hallam,  among  the  disciples,  would 
have  written  gospels  which  would  have  met  the 
wants  of  the  world  as  the  histories  of  Niebuhr  and 
Hallam  do  to-day;  but  the  Scriptures  are  written, 
not  for  scholars  or  philosophers,  but  for  men.  Our 
scientific  technicalities  and  classifications  of  natural 
facts  satisfy  for  a  year  or  a  generation,  and  then 
vanish,  after  giving  birth  to  new  classifications  and 
technicalities  ;  but  the  facts  themselves  abide  forever. 
Pythagoras  vanishes  before  Copernicus,  and  Coper- 
nicus before  Newton ;  but  the  stars  shine  on  the 
same.  So  the  facts  of  revelation,  with  all  their  start- 
ling irregularities,  their  abruptness,  their  soul-quick- 
ening contrasts,  give  rise  to  systems  which  oppose, 
supplement,  and  succeed  each  other,  age  after  age, 
while  the  facts  themselves  abide  forever.  Athana- 
sius,  Augustine,  Anselm,  vanish  ;  but  the  great  Gos- 
pel facts  are  constellated  in  eternal  beauty. 

Again,  the  Bible  is  like  nature,  omnivorous,  yet 
healthful.  It  has  a  Divine  vitality,  which  enables  it 
to  absorb  and  assimilate  elements  most  diverse  and 
contradictory.  Nature  is  ever  clean,  healthful,  and 
serene.  Though  teeming  cities  may  shed  their  filth 
upon  her  bosom,  though  the  malaria  may  reek,  and 
the  earthquake  throb  here  and  there,  yet  she  has  an 
exhaustless,  recuperative,  and  assimilative  energy, 
which  distills  perfume  from  carrion,  sweetness  from 
rottenness,  exudes  and  absorbs  volcanoes  like  pimples 
upon  the  cuticle.  So  the  Bible,  with  all  its  contra- 
dictory  moods,   and   conflicting    statements,   is   ever 


286  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

infinitely  calm  and  healthful,  because  infinitely  vital. 
Nature,  man,  and  Scripture,  when  read  with  an  open 
eye,  prove  themselves  to  be  successive  volumes  on 
the  same  theme,  and  from  the  same  Hand. 


Lecture  IX. 


ADAPTATION   OF   THE    SCRIPTURES 


Man's  Moral  and  Spiritual  Nature. 


REV.  DANIEL   CURRY,  D.  D., 

Editor  of  the  Christian  Advocate, 

New  York  City. 


Lecture  ix. 

adaptation  of  the  scriptures  to  man's 
moral  and  spiritual  nature. 

THAT  the  universe  of  beings  is  not  a  mass  of 
dissociated  individualities,  but  a  system  of 
closely  related  parts,  is  an  almost  universally  preva- 
lent notion.  The  savage  or  rustic  that  might  for  the 
first  time  examine  the  half-shell  of  a  bivalve,  would 
see  that  it  lacked  completeness,  and  would  be  led  to 
suspect  that  there  must  be  another,  corresponding  to, 
yet  unlike,  the  one  found.  Thoughtful  minds,  from 
such  suggestions,  verified  in  nature,  deduce  the  laws 
of  philosophical  relations  found  pervading  all  things. 
Poetical  minds  contemplate  it  as  a  kind  of  soul  of 
the  universe,  that 

"  Lives  through  all  life,  extends  through  all  extent ; 
Spreads  undivided,  operates  unspent." 

Philosophers  call  it  "  the  reign  of  law,"  and  the  super- 
stitious speak  of  it  as  destiny — 

"  A  divinity  that  shapes  our  ends, 
Rough-hew  them  how  we  will." 

By  virtue  of  this  universal  prevalence  of  law — 
itself  the  outflow  of  the  power  and  authority  of  the 
one    great    Lawgiver — there    is    unity    over    all    the 

289 


29O  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

diversities  of  creation ;  there  is  harmony  of  purpose 
in  the  apparently  discordant  actions  of  individuals ; 
and  consolidation,  without  the  confusion  of  the  parts, 
of  the  one  great  whole.  Nothing  is  independent  or 
segregated  ;  and  the  harmony  of  the  universe  is  se- 
cured by  the  adaptation  of  each  to  all  other  mutually 
related  individualities.  And,  as  the  comparative 
anatomist  constructs  a  complete  skeleton  from  a 
single  part,  by  producing,  in  material  forms,  the  ideals 
suggested  by  the  requirements  of  that  one  member, 
so,  by  following  up  the  all-pervading  order  of  adapta- 
tions, the  philosophical  mind  is  brought  to  the  truth, 
whether  proceeding  upwards  or  downwards  in  the 
scale  of  being. 

Beyond  all  others  of  the  denizens  of  our  world, 
man's  relations  are  multiform,  and  his  susceptibilities 
delicate.  He  is  therefore,  above  all  others,  remark- 
able for  the  multitude  and  the  greatness  of  his  wants. 
He  sympathizes  with  all  about  him,  because  of  his 
relations  to  them  ;  and  these,  in  turn,  exercise  effect- 
ive influences  over  him.  And,  further,  these  relations, 
and  the  influences  that  grow  out  of  them,  determine 
his  character,  both  as  to  its  original  capabilities  and 
its  ultimate  attainments.  The  eye  that  could  trace 
out  all  these  varying  relations  and  their  intertwining 
influences,  might  also  foresee  all  the  various  stages 
of  growth  and  development,  up  to  the  highest  com- 
pleteness. 

Physical  natures  require  an  order  of  things  in 
their  surroundings  adapted  to  their  sustentation  and 
growth.  There  must  be  an  atmosphere  for  the  lungs, 
and  food  for  the  stomach,  and  often  a  covering  for  the 


ADAPTATION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES.  29 1 

body  as  a  protection  against  atmospherical  changes. 
There  must  be  light  for  the  eyes,  and  for  the  ears 
the  sonorousness  of  bodies  and  the  conducting  power 
of  the  atmosphere ;  and,  answering  to  the  universal 
sense  of  touch,  is  provided  the  resistance  of  matter, 
which  returns  touch  for  touch,  and  thus  suggests,  to 
the  reflective  reason,  the  idea  of  externality  and  indi- 
viduality, and  distinguishes  the  objective  and  the  sub- 
jective. There  are  also  certain  social  wants  of  man's 
nature,  which  look  beyond  the  individual  for  their 
supplies.  Not  only  is  it  not  good  for  a  man  that  he 
should  be  alone,  but  solitude  is  wholly  incompatible 
with  the  elevation,  or  even  the  continuance,  of  either 
the  race  or  the  individual.  Accordingly,  he  is  endowed 
with  certain  controlling  social  appetences,  fellow-feel- 
ings, paternal  tenderness,  and  the  loves  that  draw  to- 
gether and  hold  individuals  in  the  closest  and  most 
sacred  relations  of  life.  In  all  these  things,  wants  and 
their  required  provisions  lie  over  against  each  other,  as 
foins  and  foils,  answering  to  each  other,  and  each  im- 
plying its  opposite.  Every-where  in  nature  may  we 
detect  an  ever-recurring  adaptation  of  related  objects. 
Each  is  the  answer  to  the  other's  necessities  ;  so  that 
adaptation  has  come  to  be  accepted  as  evidence  of 
purposed  co-existence,  or  of  the  original  provisions 
of  certain  things  to  meet  the  requirements  of  others. 
It  must  also  be  observed  that  men's  wants  are 
not  the  creatures  of  their  own  purposes  and  voluntary 
fancyings.  Rather,  they  are  instinctive  and  sponta- 
neous. Having  their  germs  in  the  elements  of  our 
being,  they  are  developed  with  our  normal  growth, 
and  force  themselves  upon  the  consciousness  unasked 


292  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

and  undesired.  They  may,  indeed,  in  some  cases, 
be  repressed  and  dwarfed  in  their  development,  but 
they  can  be  extinguished  only  with  the  extinction  of 
all  that  is  ennobling,  or  productive  of  good  in  human 
nature ;  and  by  their  proper  culture  and  discipline 
the  character  is  formed  for  the  highest  excellence. 

Man's  spiritual  pre-eminence  is  indicated  by  the 
multitude  and  greatness  of  his  spiritual  wants.  Irra- 
tional creatures  have  only  physical  desires  and  neces- 
sities. The  strong  lion  reposes  in  his  lair,  if  only  his 
hunger  is  satisfied ;  and  the  fierce  tiger  desires  noth- 
ing more,  when  gorged  with  the  blood  of  the  prey ; 
and  the  herd  complains  not  among  the  rich  pastures. 
The  ox  knows  his  owner,  and  the  ass  his  master's 
crib,  and  they  are  satisfied  with  their  provisions.  But 
human  aspirations  reach  beyond  these  things.  They 
go  out  after  the  unseen  and  the  intangible,  the  things 
unknown  to  sense  and  but  faintly  apprehended  by 
reason,  because  man's  nature  is  spiritual,  and  tran- 
scends the  material  and  the  merely  rational ;  and  as 
our  physical  and  social  wants  all  find  their  comple- 
ments in  the  provisions  made  for  them  and  adapted 
to  them,  so  it  may  be  inferred  that  there  are  provis- 
ions made  for  the  satisfying  of  our  spiritual  cravings 
and  necessities ;  and  the  discovery  of  such  adapted 
provisions  anywhere  would  be  accepted  as  sufficient 
evidence  that  the  one  was  designed  for  the  other. 
The  agreement  together  of  related  things,  especially 
if  the  points  of  adaptation  are  many  and  compli- 
cated, indicate  that  such  things  were  intended  for 
each  other. 

From  these  somewhat  general  and  comprehensive 


ADAPTA  TION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES.  293 

views,  we  come  to  consider  more  definitely  the  propo- 
sition assigned  for  our  present  discussion :  "  The 
adaptation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  man's  moral 
and  spiritual  nature."  And  if  we  succeed  in  showing 
that  the  instinctive  appetences  of  the  soul  indicate 
its  want  of  such  things  as  the  Scriptures  bring  to  it ; 
or  if  the  things  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures  are  found 
to  answer  to  the  felt  wants  of  the  soul, — then  we  shall 
have  accomplished  our  purpose,  and  not  only  proved 
the  adaptation  of  the  Bible  to  human  wants,  but  also 
rendered  evident  the  truth  and  the  Divine  origin  of 
the  sacred  records.  Then  shall  we  have  demonstrated 
the  oneness  of  the  origin  of  the  Word  of  God  and  of 
man  as  a  spiritual  being. 

It  is  not  our  business  at  this  time  to  present 
proofs  of  either  the  multitude  or  greatness  of  man's 
wants.  If  it  shall  be  objected  that  many  have 
lived  and  died  without  being  aware  of  some  of 
them,  we  may  partly  concede  the  fact,  but  not  its 
force  as  an  objection.  Only  sound  and  healthy 
subjects  properly  answer  to  the  normal  conditions 
of  their  kinds ;  and  only  a  slight  examination  of 
man's  spiritual  condition  detects  indications  of  de- 
rangement and  disorder.  The  instincts  of  the  soul 
are  in  many  things  sadly  perverted,  and  its  healthful 
and  life-diffusing  appetences  are  dwarfed,  or  held  in 
abeyance.  But  even  such  cases  prove  the  reality  of 
these  wants.  The  soul  so  perverted  in  its  spiritual 
instincts,  and  depraved  in  its  tastes  and  instinctive 
desires,  is  itself  balked  in  its  growth  and  deformed  in 
its  development.  Growth  is  an  essential  condition 
of  life,  in  all  immature  natures ;   and  if,  in  man,  the 


294  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

higher  and  more  spiritual  elements  of  his  nature  re- 
main inactive  and  undeveloped,  the  lower  and  more 
brutish  will  be  relatively  enlarged,  and  made  predom- 
inant in  his  life.  In  such  cases  the  reality  of  the 
wants  is  evinced,  not  indeed  by  the  conscious  long- 
ings of  the  soul  for  spiritual  good,  but  clearly  and 
very  painfully  by  the  ruin  induced  through  the  ab- 
sence of  the  things  requisite  for  the  soul's  well-being. 
We  legitimately  argue  the  requirements  of  any  given 
case,  not  only  by  the  good  that  results  from  the  pos- 
session of  the  things  presumed  to  be  needful,  but 
equally  certainly  by  the  evil  results  of  the  lack  of 
such  things ;  and  no  class  of  men  more  forcibly, 
though  sadly,  demonstrate  the  reality  and  the  great- 
ness of  their  spiritual  wants,  than  those  who  are 
the  least  spiritually  minded.  The  sensualist  and  the 
worldling,  the  man  of  pleasure  and  the  devotee  of 
wealth  or  of  the  honors  that  come  from  men, — these 
of  all  men  manifest  continually  the  restlessness 
caused  by  the  unappeased  hungerings  and  thirstings 
of  the  soul. 

Nor  is  it  true  that  such  persons  have  no  recog- 
nized and  defined  spiritual  cravings.  The  world  is 
full  of  pains  and  travail  and  sorrow;  and  an  almost 
universal  unrest  is  characteristic  of  the  race.  The 
most  worldly  passions  and  impulses  give  intimations 
of  others  back  of  them,  of  quite  another  kind.  The 
ambition  that  aims  at  only  worldly  greatness,  is  but 
the  prostitution  and  misdirection  of  a  Divine  impulse 
designed  to  bring  the  soul  to  "  glory  and  honor  and 
immortality."  The  covetousness  that  clutches  con- 
vulsively at  worldly  wealth,  is   but   the  unappeased 


ADAPTA  TION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES.  295 

thirst  of  the  spirit  for  its  unattained,  perhaps  un- 
recognized, spiritual  sustenance.  The  discontents, 
the  perpetual  strivings  for  something  better,  the 
dissatisfaction  and  disgust  with  what  is  really  pos- 
sessed,— what  are  these  but  the  expressions  of  the 
wants  of  the  soul,  which  can  not  be  satisfied  with  the 
things  of  time  and  sense  ?  He  was  indeed  justly  styled 
a  fool,  who,  with  only  material  wealth,  congratulated 
his  soul  on  the  abundance  of  his  possessions.  Infal- 
lible wisdom  and  truth  has  said,  that  "man  shall  not 
live  by  bread  alone;"  "that  a  man's  life  consisteth 
not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  which  he  possess- 
eth ;"  and  a  groaning  world  utters  its  Amen  to  this 
Scripture.  The  reality  of  man's  spiritual  wants  is 
matter  of  universal  consciousness ;  though  often  both 
the  source  whence  they  come,  and  the  objects  for 
which  they  are  calling,  may  be  but  faintly,  if  at  all, 
recognized. 

But  no  man  is  at  all  times  precisely  equal  to  his 
own  average.  To  even  the  most  sensual  and  worldly, 
there  come  seasons  when  the  spiritual  being  will 
assert  itself — times  between  the  gusts  of  passion,  or 
intervals  in  the  active  domination  of  worldly  or  sen- 
sual desires,  when  a  still  small  voice  is  heard  in  the 
soul,  calling  to  higher  purposes  and  more  spiritual 
occupations.  And  to  such  calls  the  enthralled  spirit 
responds  with  the  passionate,  but  often  hopeless, 
earnestness  of  the  caged  bird  answering  to  its  free 
companions,  when  the  voice  of  Spring  invites  to  the 
joys  of  love.  Deep  down  in  the  hearts  of  even  the 
least  spiritual  of  men,  are  yearnings  and  complainings 
and  askings  for  something  better.    Because  man  in  his 


296  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

essential  nature  is  a  spiritual  being,  with  spiritual 
wants  that  can  neither  be  crushed  out  nor  yet  satisfied 
with  earthly  goods,  he  longs  for  and  requires  spiritual 
supplies  and  consolations ;  and  the  adaptations  of  the 
lessons  and  revealings  of  Holy  Scripture  to  answer 
to  these  wants,  and,  in  doing  that,  to  bestow  the 
highest  good,  indicate  an  anterior  design  in  placing 
the  one  over  against  the  other. 

Among  the  earliest  felt  requirements  of  the  un- 
folding intelligence,  is  an  appropriate  object  upon 
which  to  rest  the  vagrant  thoughts  that  go  out  into 
the  limitless  ranges  of  existence.  The  problems  of 
being  force  themselves  upon  the  mind  of  childhood, 
and  weigh  like  a  nightmare  upon  the  maturest  intel- 
lect, till  some  suitable  objective  is  gained,  some  potent 
and  sufficient  Source  and  Foundation  of  all  life  and 
being  is  recognized.  Human  intuitions  spurn  all 
limitations  to  the  range  of  thought,  and,  while  con- 
fessing its  inability  to  measure  the  infinite,  the  mind 
clearly  apprehends  its  reality  as  a  necessary  fact.  But 
without  a  personal  and  almighty  First  Cause,  such  as 
is  known  only  through  the  revelations  of  Scripture, 
Eternity  and  Immensity  are  but  horrible  chaotic 
wastes ;  and  even  the  finite  and  conditioned  then  seem 
unreal  and  chimerical.  For  every  phenomenon  we 
intuitively  require  a  cause,  and  all  secondary  causes 
imply  others  beyond  them ;  and  so  the  recognition  of 
a  First  Cause  is  a  philosophical  necessity.  And  this 
great  First  Cause,  in  order  to  its  purpose  as  the 
prime  factor  in  all  the  problems  of  being,  must  be 
apprehended  as  infinite.  In  considering  the  ages  of 
the  past  eternity,  the  mind  rejects  as  absurd  the  idea 


ADAPTA  TION  OP  THE  SCRIPTURES.  297 

of  a  time  when  God  was  not ;  and  in  contemplating 
the  unfolding  cycles  of  the  coming  eternity,  it  re- 
quires always  the  presence  of  the  infinitely  potent 
Original.  Reason,  alike  in  its  simplest  and  its  loftiest 
processes,  requires  an  infinite  original  of  all  secondary 
beings,  uncaused,  eternal,  almighty.  But  nature  pre- 
sents only  the  finite;  all  its  phenomenal  beings  are 
limited  and  conditioned  upon  all  sides.  The  postu- 
lating of  a  personal  God,  himself  embodying  and 
dwelling  in  the  infinite,  is  exclusively  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  God,  as  revealed  only  in  his  works, 
is  unreal,  shadowy,  and  hypothetical ;  but  when  once 
seen  and  recognized  in  his  Word,  all  nature  becomes 
vocal  and  eloquent  in  confessing  him ;  and  especially 
does  the  human  intellect  find,  in  that  primary  truth, 
that  wonderful  revelation  surpassing  its  clearest  intu- 
itions, an  answer  to  its  most  painful  and  perplexing 
questionings.  God,  self-revealed,  is  the  only  sure 
basis  of  a  sound  philosophy. 

Man's  spiritual  requirements  are  chiefly  of  the 
moral  and  religious  kind.  So  largely  does  that  kind 
predominate,  that  in  that  relation  the  epithets  moral 
and  spiritual  are  often  used  convertibly.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  religious  wants  and  capabilities 
preponderate,  and  that  man's  religious  instincts  de- 
mand their  appropriate  objects  with  a  peculiar  impor- 
tunity. The  normal  development  of  the  powers  of 
the  soul  present  them  in  controlling  activity,  and 
with  proper  culture  they  increase  and  expand  till 
they  come  at  length  to  characterise  the  whole  spir- 
itual being.     In  proportion  as  the  religious  elements 

of  man's  nature  are  developed  into  a  full  and  healthy 

26 


298  INGHAM  LECTURES.  * 

maturity,  is  the  character  ennobled,  and  the  man 
becomes  Godlike.  But  these  religious  aspirations 
especially  require  an  object  beyond  the  soul  itself, 
towards  which  they  may  tend,  and  upon  which  they 
may  rest,  and  which  shall  embody,  in  all  full- 
ness, those  properties  of  character  that  answer  to 
their  cravings — just  those,  indeed,  which  the  Holy 
Scriptures  reveal  as  dwelling  in  infinite  perfection  in 
the  God  of  the  Bible. 

A  primary  requirement  of  the  soul  is  that  the 
object  of  its  religious  devotion  shall  possess  all  the 
attributes  of  a  perfect  personality.  An  impersonal 
and  intangible  principle,  a  blind,  unreasoning  force,  a 
diffused  and  insubstantial  spirit,  without  will,  or  self- 
consciousness,  or  purposed  action,  can  not  command 
the  worship  of  an  intelligent  soul.  Love  always, 
and  necessarily,  demands  responsive  love.  Prayer 
itself  is  an  unmeaning  exercise,  till  faith  confesses 
the  object  addressed  as  the  Hearer  of  prayer;  and 
penitence  is  perfected,  only  where  the  Divine  placa- 
bility is  recognized.  Back  of  the  attributes  which 
we  admire,  and  which  seem  to  command  our  wor- 
ship, we  intuitively  postulate  a  personality,  of  whom 
those  admired  characteristics  are  predicates.  Nature 
reveals  to  us  a  mighty  force  and  an  all-pervading 
order,  and  it  intimates  design  and  wisdom,  but  does 
not  fully  prove  them.  But  it  is  the  peculiar  province 
of  the  Divine  Word  to  respond  with  all  clearness  to 
the  felt  wants  of  humanity,  by  presenting  the  person 
of  Jehovah,  the  infinite  I  Am. 

Again,  it  is  required  that  the  object  of  the  soul's 
worship    shall    be   enthroned   in  the  majesty  of  rec- 


ADAPTATION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES.  299 

torial  power.  Love,  admiration,  and  a  qualified  rev- 
erence may  be  given  to  the  powerless  and  the  unau- 
thoritative ;  but  worship  is  given  only  to  the  Almighty 
and  the  All-provident.  It  is  eminently  in  the  revela- 
tion of  the  Divine  greatness,  the  majesty  and  power 
of  the  Ruler  and  Dispenser  of  man's  destiny,  that 
the  Scriptures  effectively  command  our  worship  to 
God.  If  apprehended  as  less  than  the  Almighty,  or 
as  neither  the  Keeper  nor  the  Judge  of  all  men,  God 
no  longer  commands  the  highest  devotion  of  the  soul. 
The  ethical  element  enters  very  largely  into  all 
our  intuitions  and  conceptions  of  religious  worship. 
The  idea  of  moral  rectitude — the  essential  good — is 
intuitive  and  spontaneous  ;  and  to  no  other  suscepti- 
bility of  its  own  nature  does  the  spirit  render  such 
profound  deference.  The  logical  faculty  may  control 
the  judgment,  and  the  aesthetical  may  minister  to 
the  emotional  nature ;  but  the  ethical,  developed  and 
exercised  in  the  form  of  conscience,  dictates  the  con- 
duct, and  extends  its  authority  even  to  the  feelings, 
tempers,  and  sentiments  of  the  heart.  And  it  is 
especially  in  his  ethical  character  that  the  Holy 
Scriptures  seem  to  delight  to  portray  to  us  our 
God.  Righteousness,  justice,  truth,  are  among  his 
moral  attributes,  the  perfections  of  his  nature,  in 
which  he  is  perpetually  presented  to  our  adoring 
contemplation.  We  gaze  upon  such  excellences,  and 
are  drawn  to  adore  and  worship  the  Being  in  whom 
they  subsist,  and  we  confess  their  authority  over  our 
own  lives  and  hearts.  But  chiefly  when  we  contem- 
plate these  things,  not  as  abstract  qualities,  or  segre- 
gated individual  properties,  but  as  concentrated  into 


300  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

a  glowing  focus  of  intense  moral  worth,  under  the 
name  of  holiness,  do  we  fully  or  adequately  appre- 
ciate the  ethical  side  of  the  Divine  character,  or  rise 
to  that  lofty  height  of  pure  worship  which  is  alike  due 
to  God  and  profitable. to  man.  Only  when  we  con- 
template the  Divine  Being  as  a  devouring  fire  of  holy 
wrath  towards  sin,  and  of  intensest,  purest  love  to- 
wards all  that  bear  the  image  of  his  holiness,  do  we 
find  in  Him  the  inspiration  and  the  sacred  joy  that 
are,  as  for  ourselves,  the  great  end  of  worship.  And 
need  we  more  than  intimate  how  fully,  as  well  as 
exclusively,  the  Holy  Scriptures  teach  these  things, 
and  present  to  us  the  Divine  character,  in  the  full- 
ness of  holiness,  perpetually  and  effectively  active 
throughout  the  moral  world  ? 

The  aesthetical  element  of  man's  nature,  though 
less  prominently,  yet  in  no  inconsiderable  degree, 
enters  into  his  religious  life  and  its  exercises.  Wor- 
ship itself  is  the  highest  form  of  the  aesthetical. 
Angelic  and  seraphic  praises  of  the  Most  High  are 
the  devout  outpourings  of  sacred  admiration  of  that 
uncreated  glory  upon  which  they  gaze,  or  veil  their 
faces  before  its  insufferable  splendor.  Even  to  human 
apprehension  there  is  a  "beauty  of  holiness,"  which 
commands  the  ravished  hearts  of  all  capable  of  its 
appreciation,  and  which,  when  perceived,  casts  a 
pall  of  dimness  over  all  earthly  glories.  All  kinds 
of  earth's  lesser  beauties  are  but  the  forms  and 
shadows  of  the  heavenly,  that  essential  beauty  that 
dwells  in  absolute  fullness  only  in  the  Divine  holi- 
ness, whether  contemplated  in  the  effulgence  of  the 
sacred  person,  or  viewed  in  finite  spiritual  natures, 


ADAPTATION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES.  301 

made  in  the  image  of  God.  The  development  and 
culture  of  this  really  spiritual  element  of  human 
nature  requires  models  of,  essential  holiness,  both 
absolute  and  proximate,  such  as  are  given  in  the 
revelations  of  the  sacred  persons  of  the  Godhead, 
and  illustrated  in  the  lives  and  characters  of  holy 
men  in  the  Scriptures.  There,  and  there  only,  may 
be  found  the  models  that  can  both  form  and  satisfy 
the  highest  and  noblest  tastes ;  and  there,  too,  are 
given  the  processes  for  gaining  and  reproducing  the 
highest  forms  of  virtue. 

The  human  conscience,  untaught  by  aught  besides 
its  own  deep  intuitions,  confesses  the  need  of  some 
remedial  agency  to  deliver  the  soul  from  its  thrall- 
dom.  It  is  not  for  us  to  discuss  learned  questions 
in  theology  ;  but  we  may  safely  venture  the  statement 
that,  somehow,  there  is  found  widely  prevalent  among 
the  most  thoughtful  classes  of  mankind  a  deep  in- 
terior consciousness  of  sin,  with  heartfelt  yearnings 
for  a  better  life.  At  those  seasons,  which  come  per- 
haps to  all,  when  men  are  better  than  their  own 
average,  there  is  a  painful  consciousness  of  deep- 
seated  moral  evils  in  the  soul.  Sin  is  then  seen  in 
its  real  character  ;  and,  though  perhaps  but  faintly 
resisted,  it  is  abhorred  as  a  loathsome  evil.  The 
lowly  breathings  of  the  soul  in  such  an  hour,  im- 
potent and  perhaps  purposeless,  are  for  a  better  heart 
and  a  new  life.  But,  though  these  aspirations  may 
be  feeble  and  quite  insufficient  to  restrain  the  pas- 
sions and  control  the  will,  they  are  manifestly  real, 
and  sufficiently  powerful  to  disturb  the  guilty  quiet 
of  the  soul,  and  to  check,  at  least  momentarily,  the 


302  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

headlong  currents  of  vicious  pleasures.  Learned  and 
thoughtful  heathen,  especially,  have  confessed  these 
whisperings  of  the  soul,  and  some  of  them  have 
both  forcibly  and  feelingly  declared  their  utterances. 
But  to  them  these  things  were,  necessarily,  only  as 
some  delightsome  dream,  the  imagination  of  an  ideal 
quite  too  lovely  to  be  realized,  as  if  a  light  from 
heaven  had  fallen  upon  the  camera  of  the  soul,  and 
formed  an  image  of  surpassing  loveliness,  which  re- 
mained but  for  a  moment,  and  then  melted  away  into 
darkness. 

And  even  among  these  there  have  been  efforts 
towards  the  realization  of  that  bright  but  evanescent 
ideal.  A  few  of  them  have  told  us  of  their  efforts 
to  retain  in  their  minds  the  lovely  image  of  virtue, 
and  to  realize  in  their  own  characters  and  lives  its 
sublime  lessons;  but  in  all  such  cases  utter  failure  is 
the  only  result.  Each,  in  his  own  manner,  confesses 
that,  while  he  perceives  and  admires  and  longs  to 
pursue  the  good,  and  abhors  and  struggles  against 
the  evil,  still  the  evil,  and  not  the  good,  is  pursued. 

That  phenomenon  of  experimental  Christianity, 
known  as  conviction  of  sin,  or  religious  awakening, 
differs  in  degree,  rather  than  in  kind,  from  these 
heart-yearnings  of  the  best  class  of  heathen  minds. 
The  more  adequate  teachings,  enjoyed  wherever  Bible 
truth  is  diffused  abroad,  illustrating  the  vileness  of 
sin  and  the  contrasted  excellence  of  holiness,  the 
one  devolving  guilt  upon  its  subject,  and  the  other 
demanding  purity  of  heart  and  earnest  devotion  of 
life,  give  largely  increased  force  to  these  spiritual  im- 
pulses.    But   even    then    the   resistance   against   the 


ADAPTATION'  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES.  303 

steady  undercurrent  of  the  inbred  sin  of  the  soul  is 
usually  feeble  and  transient.  A  schism  in  the  soul  is, 
however,  not  only  detected,  but  made  active.  Two 
antagonistic  impulses  now  war  against  each  other. 
The  individual  self  becomes  dual,  and  the  conflict  is 
waged  within  the  soul  itself.  "That  which  /  do,  / 
allow  not ;  what  /  would,  /  do  not ;  but  what  /  hate, 
that  /  do."  But  notice  that,  always  in  these  con- 
flicts, if  conducted  under  the  guidance  of  reason  and 
by  human  agencies  alone,  the  victory  is  uniformly  on 
the  side  of  evil.  "  The  good  that  I  would,  I  do  not ; 
but  the  evil  that  I  would  not,  that  I  do."  Just  at 
this  point  the  most  earnest  resistant  against  sin  is 
brought  to  despair;  and  just  where  self-despair  en- 
sues, the  hopes  of  the  Gospel,  as  revealed  in  Holy 
Scripture,  become  both  strong  and  very  precious. 
By  these  we  are  taught  not  only  the  transcendent 
excellence  of  essential  virtue,  but  also  the  way  to  its 
attainment. 

The  sacred  Volume  is  replete  with  images  of 
transcendent  goodness,  not  shown  as  merely  beau- 
tiful ideals,  to  be  gazed  upon  and  admired,  as  quite 
unattainable,  but  each  is  presented  as  a  spiritual 
study,  to  be  considered  and  reproduced  in  the  sus- 
ceptible soul,  and  copied  into  active  life.  Over 
against  the  depressing  sense  of  guilt  stands  the 
promise  of  free  pardon ;  against  the  dominion  of  sin 
is  the  assurance  of  emancipation  by  the  power  of 
renovating  grace ;  for  its  defilement  a  fountain  is 
opened  that  cleanses  from  all  spiritual  uncleanness  ; 
and  for  all  them  that  "hunger  and  thirst  after  right- 
eousness "  is  the  beatific  assurance  of  eternal  fullness. 


304  .  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

But  chief  among  man's  felt  wants  is  that  of  a 
competent  protector,  guide,  and  defense.  Viewing 
himself  among  his  surroundings,  no  thoughtful  man 
can  fail  to  be  painfully  conscious  of  his  utter  help- 
lessness. He  knows  that  his  life  was  not  given,  nor 
is  it  sustained,  by  his  own  power.  He  has  not 
ordered  his  own  surroundings,  nor  appointed  the 
time  and  place  of  his  habitation.  Instinctively  he 
looks  outward  and  recognizes  a  potent  energy,  an 
awful  and  resistless  Power  about  him  and  pressing 
upon  him,  and  yet  utterly  unknown.  Men  call  it 
destiny,  or  fate ;  they  make  it  a  negation  and  a  con- 
tradiction, under  the  name  of  chance ;  or  they  belittle 
it  by  calling  it  luck.  It  is  their  ruling  star,  or  good 
angel,  or  demon.  The  recognition  of  such  a  Power, 
so  intimately  near,  and  ever  active  in  our  affairs,  so 
resistless  and  unapproachable,  can  not  fail  to  be  fear- 
fully oppressive  to  the  spirit  and  dwarfing  to  the 
whole  soul.  Against  its  resistless  and  oppressive 
tyranny,  reason  and  philosophy  are  powerless.  The 
stoic  sullenly  confronts  it,  and  in  desperation  defies 
it;  the  Epicurean,  because  of  his  conscious  helpless- 
ness for  both  the  present  and  the  future,  makes  haste 
to  "eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die."  The 
faint  glimmerings  of  a  surer  faith,  giving  rise  to  a 
better  hope,  in  a  very  few  of  the  best  minds  of  both 
Greece  and  Rome,  were  little  more  than  fitful  shad- 
ows, too  faint  and  evanescent  to  deliver  the  soul 
from  its  painful  uncertainties.  There  were,  indeed, 
among  them  religions  enough,  and  divinities  more 
than  enough;  but  the  former  brought  no  consolations, 
and  the  latter  were   careless    of  human   welfare,  or 


ADAPTATION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES.  305 

impotent  to  help.  Under  this  burden,  and  in  this 
absence  of  any  assured  hope  or  rational  dependence, 
"  the  whole  creation  travaileth  and  groaneth  together." 
The  religions  of  heathendom  are  every-where  a  horrid 
and  hopeless  slavery,  in  which  the  soul  is,  by  turns, 
tortured  with  superstition,  or  blasted  by  an  arid  and 
desolating  atheism ;  between  which  two  the  spirit 
sighs  in  the  desolation  of  orphanage,  or  drifts  help- 
lessly and  hopelessly  onward  to  the  unsearchable 
abyss  of  the  future. 

Nor  are  the  lessons  of  simple  Theism,  however 
comprehensive  its  recognition  of  the  Great  Author  of 
being,  adequate  to  the  requirements  of  the  soul.  God's 
greatness  may,  to  the  apprehension  of  reason,  seem 
to  place  him  at  too  great  a  remove  from  us  either  to 
take  knowledge  of  us  or  to  care  for  our  affairs.  The 
sons  of  our  forests  and  prairies  confessed  the  "Great 
Spirit ;"  and  they  thought  they  heard  his  voice,  or  felt 
his  power,  in  the  thunder  and  the  tempest ;  but  he 
was  quite  above  their  trivial,  every-day  affairs,  and  in 
the  absence  of  his  watch-care,  their  whole  lives  were 
a  prey  to  their  miserable  demons.  Even  the  inspired 
Psalmist  seems  to  have  fallen,  for  the  moment,  under 
this  oppressive  sense  of  God's  stupendous  greatness, 
removing  him  far  above  all  human  concerns:  "When 
I  consider  the  heavens,  the  work  of  thy  fingers,  the 
moon  and  the  stars,  which  thou  hast  ordained ;  what 
is  man,  that  thou  art  mindful  of  him  ?  an'd  the  son  of 
man,  that  thou  visitest  him  ?"*  It  were  not  enough, 
then,  if  reason  and  nature  were  equal  to  the  task 
of  revealing  God;   we  need  to  be  assured  that  God 

*  Psalm  viii,  3,  4. 
27 


306  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

cares  for  us,  keeps  us,  and  will  be  our  support  and 
defense  always. 

The  wonderful  adaptation  of  the  lessons  of  Holy 
Scripture  to  the  requirements  of  our  case,  at  this 
point,  can  not  fail  of  -  attention.  Its  great  Author 
and  subject  is  there  revealed,  as  not  only  the  Al- 
mighty, the  Eternal,  and  the  All-wise  God ;  he  is 
more  than  all  of  these,  and  in  them  all  he  comes  near 
to  us  and  teaches  us  to  call  him  Our  Father.  While 
upholding  all  worlds,  and  directing  the  course  of 
universal  nature,  he  is  still  "  not  far  from  every  one 
of  us."  Though  his  omnipotence  and  ubiquity  may 
imply  that,  in  some  sense,  "in  him  we  live  and  move 
and  have  our  being,"  and  though  his  moral  perfec- 
tions may  indicate  his  regard  for  the  right,  and  ren- 
der it  certain  that  his  judgments  will  be  in  equity,  we 
still  require,  as  the  basis  of  our  confidence,  the  direct 
lessons  of  his  Word  to  assure  us  of  his  peculiar  near- 
ness to  us  and  his  fatherly  care  for  us.  Nearer  and 
and  better  than  all  that  reason  can  teach  us  of  the 
Divine  character,  and  stronger  in  affections  than  any 
thing  suggested  by  the  mutual  relations  of  creatures 
and  Creator,  is  the  fact  that  the  God  of  the  Bible, 
though  infinite  in  Majesty  and  power,  chooses  to  be 
recognized  and  addressed  by  us  as  "  Our  Father"  and 
specifically  entitles  us  to  claim  from  him  all  the  ben- 
efits of  that  relation. 

Assured  *of  God's  fatherhood,  we  cease  to  be  dis- 
mayed by  the  awful  powers  of  nature,  which,  indeed, 
under  his  control  are  changed  to  ministers  of  mercy. 
Our  confessed  helplessness  is  more  than  compensated 
for  by  the  assurance  that  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  all 


ADAPTA  TION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES.  307 

things  in  heaven  and  earth  is  our  loving  Father. 
With  what  triumph  and  confidence  does  the  Psalmist 
exclaim:  "God  is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very 
present  help  in  trouble.  Therefore  will  not  we  fear, 
though  the  earth  be  removed,  and  though  the  mount- 
ains be  carried  into  the  midst  of  the  sea."* 

Man's  inmost  nature  asks  for  security,  for  some 
sure  ground  of  confidence  upon  which  he  may  rely 
without  doubtings  and  misgivings.  This  is  essential 
to  his  peace,  and  it  is  found  only  in  an  abiding  con- 
viction of  the  Divine  providence,  exercised  always 
with  fatherly  kindness.  All  this,  indeed,  is  compat- 
ible with  a  life  of  labors  and  perplexities,  needful 
discipline  in  our  present  imperfect  state  ;  but  with  it 
life  can  not  be  sad  or  fearful.  In  this  confidence, 
the  soul  is  staid  upon  God  ;  and  from  its  depths  it 
utters  anew  that  inspired  song  in  whose  sacred  exul- 
tations unnumbered  multitudes  have  confessed  the 
sufficiency  of  the  Divine  providence :  "  The  Lord  is 
my  shepherd  ;  I  shall  not  want.  He  maketh  me  to 
lie  down  in  green  pastures :  he  leadeth  me  beside  the 
still  waters.  He  restoreth  my  soul :  he  leadeth  me 
in  the  paths  of  righteousness  for  his  name's  sake. 
Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil :  for  thou  art  with  me  ; 
thy  rod  and  thy  staff  they  comfort  me.  Thou  pre- 
parest  a  table  before  me  in  the  presence  of  mine  en- 
emies :  thou  anointest  my  head  with  oil ;  my  cup 
runneth  over.  Surely  goodness  and  mercy  shall  fol- 
low me  all  the  days  of  iny  life :  and  I  will  dzvell  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord  forever! 'f 

*  Psalm  xlvi,  1,  2.  t  Psalm  xxiii. 


308  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

The  revelation  of  God's  fatherhood,  assuring  us 
of  his  wonderful  providence  over  us,  thus  meets  our 
wants  ;  and,  if  accepted  in  the  spirit  of  faith,  it  is 
sufficient  to  stay  the  soul  in  devout  confidence.  But 
a  still  more  wonderful-  display  of  his  care  for  us  is 
shown  in  the  teachings  and  the  work  of  Christ.  Here 
are  exhibitions  of  mercy  yearning  to  save  the  ruined 
and  guilty.  Here  is  love,  rising  above  all  obstacles, 
stopping  at  no  sacrifices,  and  hastening,  through  tears 
and  blood,  to  redeem  the  fallen  and  to  rescue  the 
perishing.  If  to  be  loved  is  among  the  cravings  of 
the  human  heart,  how  abundant  the  provisions  made 
to  answer  to  it  in  that  transcendent  display  of  ten- 
derest,  strongest  affection  in  the  Divine  heart  for 
helpless  and  guilty  men.  Here  is  the  miracle  of  Di- 
vine compassion,  the  love  that  "  passes  all  understand- 
ing," but  that  which  only  and  alone  reaches  to  the 
yearning  necessities  of  the  soul.  Our  spiritual  nature 
demands  a  present  Christ ;  the  Bible  is  itself  the 
revelation  of  the  Christ  to  the  soul. 

At  the  risk  of  transcending  our  allotted  space,  we 
must  present  yet  another  instance  of  a  chief  want  of 
man's  spiritual  nature,  to  which  only  the  Word  of  God, 
the  revelations  of  the  Gospel,  respond.  We  speak  of 
the  soul's  earnest  cravings  for  immortality  and  future 
blessedness. 

Love  of  existence  is  a  perpetually  active  sentiment 
of  the  heart.  No  help  of  reasoning  is  needed,  either 
to  awaken  it  to  activity  or  to  preserve  its  unflagging 
intensity.  It  grows  with  the  growth  of  our  years, 
and  gathers  force  as  the  toils  and  pains  of  life  mul- 
tiply ;  and  as  burdened  age  stoops  downward  to  the 


ADAPTA  TION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES.  309 

tomb,  the  instinctive  longings  of  the  soul  call  for 
a  new  life,  for  which  there  shall  be  neither  old  age 
nor  decrepitude  nor  death.  But  over  against  these 
longings  nature  presents  the  mementos  of  mortality. 
Among  the  earliest  learned  of  earth's  lessons  is  the 
astounding  fact  that  people  die.  Larger  experience 
of  human  affairs  detects  the  shadow  of  death  every- 
where. Thus,  with  perpetual  and  passionate  longing 
for  immortality,  men  pass  as  a  vapor  through  time, 
with  the  dark  wings  of  the  Destroyer  spread  over 
them.  In  nature  there  is  thus  found  the  ill-assorted 
companionship  of  intense  desire  and  despair. 

The  pencil  of  inspiration  has  painted  most  truth- 
fully the  dark  background  of  the  picture  of  human 
destiny,  by  simply  setting  forth  the  confessed  truths  of 
our  mortality :  "  Man  that  is  born  of  a  woman  is  of 
few  days,  and  full  of  trouble.  He  cometh  forth  like 
a  flower,  and  is  cut  down  :  he  fleeth  also  as  a  shadow, 
and  continueth  not.  .  .  .  Man  dieth,  and  wasteth 
away :  yea,  man  giveth  up  the  ghost,  and  where  is  he  ? 
.  .  .  So  man  lieth  down,  and  riseth  not :  till  the 
heavens  be  no  more,  they  shall  not  awake,  nor  be 
raised  out  of  their  sleep."*  And  at  the  close  of  this 
sad  tale,  and  as  if  to  crush  the  feeblest  strugglings 
of  hope,  comes  the  despair-enforcing  question,  "If  a 
man  die,  shall  he  live  again  ?"  uttered  with  the  as- 
surance that  earth's  oracles  could  answer  only  with  a 
universal  negative. 

The  question  of  immortality  and  the  future  life 
has  been  an  ever-present  and  deeply  interesting  one 
among   all   the   races  of  mankind.      Their    religious 

*  Job  xiv,  1,  2,  10,  12. 


310  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

instincts  suggest  it,  require  it,  and  recognize  it,  as 
the  necessary  complement  to  our  present  existence  ; 
but  the  sense-encumbered  intellect  and  the  cold  logic 
of  merely  mundane  facts  give  the  lie  to  all  these 
fond  suggestions.  Thus,  though  the  idea  of  immor- 
tality is  every-where  cherished,  it  is  rather  as  a  beau- 
tiful, but  unreal,  fancy  than  as  an  assurance  ever  to 
be  realized.  Socrates,  at  the  approach  of  death, 
spoke  with  apparent  confidence  of  his  passage  at 
once  into  the  society  of  the  "  immortal  gods,"  declar- 
ing his  persuasion  that  men  live  after  death  ;  but  every 
careful  student  of  the  life  and  teachings  of  the  great 
Athenian  sage  knows  but  too  well  that  his  hopes 
were  much  more  largely  made  up  of  desires  than  of 
confident  assurance.  Plato,  too,  reasoned  of  immor- 
tality, and  seemed  to  show  that  it  was  reasonably 
possible;  and  he  could  do  no  more;  and  Cato,  in  his 
extremity,  cast  himself  upon  death,  preferring  that 
dim  possibility  to  the  wretchedness  of  his  earthly 
being ;  but  even  the  faint  hope  that  impelled  him  to 
such  rashness  was  the  child  of  his  despair.  Men  of 
every  form  of  religious  faith  have  hoped  for  immor- 
tality, but  their  hopes  have  been  as  destitute  of  as- 
surance as  their  creeds  have  been  deficient  in  rational 
evidence ;  so  that  in  the  presence  of  death,  in  nearly 
all  cases,  life  and  hope  perish  together. 

This,  then,  is  the  humiliating  result  reached  by 
human  reason,  under  the  guidance  of  nature,  as  an- 
nounced by  the  greatest  of  merely  human  expositors 
of  the  heart  of  man : 

" Death  is  a  fearful  thing.'1'' 

And,  O!    how  true  to  nature  is  his  picture  of  the 


ADAPTA  TION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES.  3 1 1 

soul,  contemplating,  as  near  at  hand,  the  terrible 
catastrophe  of  being ! 

"  Ay,  but  to  die,  and  go  we  know  not  where ; 
To  lie  in  cold  obstruction  and  to  rot ; 
This  sensible,  warm  nature  to  become 
A  kneaded  clod. 

Or  to  be  worse  than  worst 
Of  those,  that  lawless  and  uncertain  thoughts 
Imagine  howling  !  't  is  too  horrible  ! 
The  weariest  and  most  loathed  worldly  life, 
That  age,  ache,  penury,  imprisonment, 
Can  lay  on  nature,  is  a  paradise 
To  what  we  fear  of  death."* 

And  if  such  is  nature's  picture  of  death,  to  escape 
such  terrors  is  man's  greatest  and  ultimate  want. 
But  death  is  inevitable.  On  every  hand  is  the  con- 
current declaration  or  confession,  "  It  is  appointed 
to  men  once  to  die."  To  escape  death,  therefore, 
is  not  an  object  of  rational  hope,  but  to  find  out 
some  sure  and  sufficient  way  to  rob  death  of  its 
terrors  through  the  hope  of  immortality  after  death. 
This  is  attempted  by  almost  all  forms  of  religion  ; 
and  all  alike  of  the  religions  of  men's  devising  have 
failed  in  the  endeavor.  To  every  heathen  mind  not 
maddened  by  fanaticism,  or  to  the  mere  philosopher, 
Death  is  truly  and  fearfully  the  King  of  Terrors.  Only 
the  faith  of  the  Gospel  has  ever  sufficed  to  overcome 
the  fear  of  death. 

Holy  Scripture  teaches  the  doctrine  of  immortal- 
ity, not  chiefly  by  positive  and  direct  declarations, 
but  rather  by  showing  man's  proper  spirituality,  by 
virtue  of  which  he  is  incapable  of  dissolution.  The' 
sacred  narrative  of  the  creation  tells  of  man  as  the 

♦"Measure  for  Measure,"  act  iii,  sc.  I. 


312  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

one  spiritual  creature  upon  the  earth,  inspired  with 
"  the  breath  of  lives,"  and  constituted  for  perpetual 
existence.  And  these  primary  statements  in  man's 
history  are  steadily  recognized  in  the  after-records  of 
the  Divine  Word.  God's  providences  towards  men 
imply  their  transcendent  worth  among  the  creatures 
of  God's  hand,  a  worth  that  is  found  chiefly  in  their 
spirituality  and  consequent  immortality.  The  one 
crowning  truth  of  Holy  Scripture,  the  manifestation 
of  the  Son  of  God  in  the  flesh,  would  appear  pur- 
poseless and  unwarranted,  except  that  man's  immor- 
tality justifies  the  Divine  regard  for  him.  Without 
that  recognition,  the  wonderful  history  of  Jesus 
would  be  something  worse  than  an  enigma,  a  strange 
misuse  of  the  richest  resources  of  Heaven.  Granting 
man's  immortality,  that  history  is  the  grandest  ever 
enacted.  He  came  to  bring  "life  and  immortality  to 
light."  He  reveals  himself  as  "the  light"  He  shows 
that,  by  his  personal  union  with  our  nature,  humanity 
itself  is  quickened  and  redeemed.  And  to  those  who 
receive  him  as  their  life,  he  declares  that  where  he 
is — in  the  glory  of  immortality — there  shall  his  serv- 
ants be  also.  Thus  every  assurance  of  the  future 
life  that  the  truth  can  declare,  or  love  make  precious, 
is  infolded  in  the  very  substance  of  the  Gospel.  The 
largest  desires  of  the  aspiring  spirit  are  fulfilled  by 
what  is  there  taught  respecting  the  life  after  death ; 
and  the  fear  of  death  gives  place  to  devout  joy  and 
the  triumphant  song  of  faith.  Thus,  through  the 
Gospel — and  by  no  other  means — there  is  found  out 
a  way  of  escape  from  the  dread  of  death.  While 
suffering   that   fear,  the   soul  is  dwarfed  and  bowed 


ADAPTA  TION  OF  THE  SCRIPTURES.  3 1 3 

down  to  the  earth ;  but  in  the  clear  vision  of  that 
Heaven-given  light,  it  rises  into  the  ennobling  and 
purifying  atmosphere  of  revealed  "life  and  immor- 
tality." 

Here  we  must  cease;  not  that  we  have  gone  over 
the  whole  field  of  either  the  evidences  or  the  illus- 
trations of  our  subject,  but  our  utmost  limits  are 
reached.  Our  examinations  prove  to  us  that,  if  there 
is  any  harmony  in  the  spiritual  universe,  if  the  Cre- 
ator has  not  written  contradictions  in  the  human 
character,  and,  contrary  to  his  economy  in  nature, 
given  appetences  and  needs  for  which  he  has  pro- 
vided nothing  to  answer,  or  has  set  forth  only  mock- 
ing and  delusive  answers,  then  has  he  made  provis- 
ions to  respond  to  the  instinctive  desires  and  sponta- 
neous cravings  of  man's  spiritual  nature.  And  since 
the  Holy  Scriptures  with  such  wonderful  adaptations 
answer  to  those  wants  of  the  spirit,  the  evidence 
seems  beyond  rational  cavil,  that  the  Framer  of 
man's  interior  nature  is  the  Author  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  and  that  he  has,  of  purpose,  set  the  one 
over  against  the  other,  to  be  the  life,  the  light,  and 
the  culturing  agency  for  the  soul. 


Lecture  X. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 


REV.  WILLIAM  D.  GODMAN,  D.  D.t 

President  of  Baldwin  University, 

Berea,  Ohio, 


Cui  enim  Veritas  comperta  siite  Deo  ?     Cui  Dens  cognitus 

sine   Christo?     Cui  Christus   exploratus  sine  Spiritu 

Sancto?      Cui   Spiritus    Sanctus   acco7nmodatus    sine 

fidei  sacramento? 

Tertulliani  De  Anima,  i. 


y 


ECTURE   X. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS   CHRIST. 

"  He  saith  unto  them,  But  whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  And  Simon 
Peter  answered  and  said,  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Blessed  art  thou, 
Simon  Bar-Jona ;  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee, 
but  my*  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  Matthew  xvi,  15-17. 

ABOUT  eighteen  hundred  and  thirty-seven  years 
ago  this  day,*  if  the  received  chronology  and 
calendar  be  correct,  occurred  the  great  event  which 
secured  the  triumph  of  Christianity.  The  rolling 
away  of  the  stone  from  the  holy  sepulcher,  the  re- 
appearing of  Jesus,  was  more  to  the  new  faith  than 
the  patronage  of  the  Caesars  or  the  protection  of  a 
thousand  legions  of  trained  soldiers.  It  is  a  pleasing 
arrangement  of  Providence  that  permits  us  to-day  to 
come  into  this  learned  presence,  before  this  Chris- 
tian assembly,  with  so  Divine  a  theme.  May  He 
of  whom  we  are  called  to  speak  be  present,  and 
verify  in  our  hearts  His  ascended  glory !  We  be- 
seech the  guidance  of  "the  Spirit  of  Truth."  May 
he  that  "  searcheth  the  deep  things  of  God "  impart 
to  us  such  of  his  treasures  of  knowledge  as  our  ex- 
ceeding weakness   may  be  able   to   receive !     If  we 

♦Easter  Sunday,  1870. 

317 


3 1 8  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

may,  without   presumption,  borrow  the  words    of  a 
prince  in  the  world  of  letters,  we  may  pray: 

"  And  chiefly  Thou,  O  Spirit,  that  dost  prefer 
Before  all  temples,  the  upright  heart  and  pure, 

Instruct  me,  for  thou  know'st : 

what  in  me  is  dark 

Illumine  !  what  is  low,  raise  and  support." 

The  most  stirring  question  of  the  civilized  world 
is  this  :  "  What  think  ye  of  Christ  f"  Not  only  the 
monk  in  the  cloister  meditates  upon  it ;  not  only  the 
surpliced  cleric  and  the  zealous  evangelist  strive  to 
give  it  a  fond  or  a  professional  answer;  but  grave 
philosophers,  who  make  least  account  of  popular  en- 
thusiasm, leave  their  speculations  about  development 
and  spontaneous  generation  to  utter  their  thoughts 
about  Jesus.  The  jurist,  forgetting  the  eminent 
claims  of  legal  antiquities  and  the  current  exigen- 
cies of  the  administration  of  justice,  lays  aside  the 
ermine  and  takes  the  pen  to  record  an  opinion  con- 
cerning that  Nazarene  of  whom  the  least  that  can 
be  said  is,  that  the  world  can  not  forget  him.  Men 
of  letters,  the  familiars  of  every  muse,  turn  them- 
selves from  the  ravishments  of  polite  learning  and 
of  high  art,  to  enrich  the  imagination  with  the  ideal 
beauties  of  "  the  Man  of  Sorrows,"  and  to  expend  the 
resources  of  the  most  cultivated  taste  in  the  reproduc- 
tion of  what  transcends  all  else  in  nature's  growth — 
all  else  in  history's  life.  Men  of  action,  trained  to 
politics,  or  married  to  gold,  ask  themselves,  What  of 
this  man  Jesus?  Why  should  we  have  an  opinion 
concerning  him  f  What  is  it  makes  him  essential 
to  us  f 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  319 

This  question,  agitated  for  eighteen  centuries,  ad- 
dresses now  more  minds  than  ever  before,  and  receives 
more  various  answers.  Responses,  in  other  days, 
were  given  in  the  cannon's  roar  and  in  the  dying 
groans  of  martyrs.  Now  they  are  given  with  the 
voice  and  the  pen.  Once  given  in  reply  to  threaten- 
ing power,  now  they  are  made  in  conflict  with  de- 
fiant reason.  Unbelief  is  better  equipped  and  more 
self-reliant  to-day  than  in  any  former  age.  Meta- 
physics, history,  art,  never  furnished  her  such  effect- 
ive weapons  as  she  draws  now  from  the  armories  of 
natural  science.  The  Christian  religion  in  its  infancy 
was  trodden  beneath  the  iron  heel  of  power,  despised, 
hated,  crushed,  as  is  every  good  thing  when  it  is 
weak.  But  every  drop  of  the  Church's  blood  was 
prolific,  and  she  throve  amidst  her  agonies.  Now 
that  the  millions  train  in  her  steps ;  now  that 
she  has  a  record  of  glory  in  history  ;  now  that  the 
veneration  of  centuries  is  enthroned  upon  her  brow ; 
now,  in  the  days  of  her  hallowed  maturity,  and  in 
the  exuberance  of  her  maternal  goodness, — there  are 
found  those  who  glory  in  their  enmity,  not  to  Chris- 
tians, but  to  Christianity,  who  attack  the  fortress  of 
her  strength,  and,  seizing  her  own  guns,  turn  them 
inward  upon  her  vital  defenses.  Rationalism — which 
is  an  affectation  of  rationalness,  just  as  theism  is  of 
godliness,  and  as  Romanism  is  of  Catholicism — ration- 
alism is  the  name  of  the  prevailing  tendency  of  un- 
belief, the  cover  to  all  the  attacks  against  Gospel 
truth.  Men  are  zealous  to  be  disciples  of  Reason, 
as  if  the  ages  before  us  had  been  only  irrational. 
This   is    the   general    name   for   the   skeptical   reac- 


320  INGHAM  LECTURES 

tions  of  two  centuries  against  the  Reformation  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  This  tendency  began  with  a  so- 
called  rational  interpretation  of  Scripture,  so  explain- 
ing supernatural  events  as  to  bring  them  within  the 
domain  of  the  natural.  There  followed  the  attempt 
to  reduce  the  narratives  of  miraculous  occurrences  to 
myths.  This,  failing  to  account  satisfactorily  for  the 
rise  of  Christianity  and  the  Christian  Church,  was 
succeeded  by  the  endeavor  to  invalidate  the  apostolic 
origin  of  the  four  Gospels,  and  to  father  upon  St. 
Paul  the  invention  of  the  supernatural  in  the  Chris- 
tian records  and  faith.  This  having  been  defeated  by 
historical  criticism,  the  enemies  of  the  faith  have 
turned,  as  with  one  accord,  directly  to  the  person 
of  yesus  Christ,  as  if  to  take  the  citadel  of  our 
religion  and  thereby  secure  capitulation  of  the  out- 
posts. Many  proclaim  the  victory  already  won,  and 
are  but  waiting,  as  they  think,  the  rapidly  approaching 
hour  when  the  Christian  world  shall  strike  the  colors 
of  Immanuel.  A  highly  cultivated  French  gentle- 
man pronounces  Jesus  to  have  been  a  young  man  of 
great  talent,  a  much  refined  and  very  subtle  sinner; 
a  German  professor  discovers  that  he  was  a  sinless 
man  and  an  uncompromising  low-churchman ;  an 
American  conventioner  calls  him  Mr.  Jesus ;  and  a 
St.  Louis  Councilman,  learned  in  "lager  beer,"  de- 
cides that  his  religion  is  an  "  exploded  humbug" 

Abating  our  contempt  for  the  pretensions  of  ig- 
norance, and  our  disappointment  with  the  ill-disguised 
sophistries  of  learned  men,  there  is  one  view  of  the 
activity  of  skepticism  which  commands  respect,  and 
bids   us  heed   its   honest   utterances.     So  far  as  the 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  32 1 

Christian  Church  has  sought  to  impose  her  beliefs 
by  authority  ;  and  so  far  as  skepticism  is  a  protest 
against  this  procedure,  a  demand  for  light  and  a  denial 
of  prerogative, — so  far  it  merits  a  respectful  consider- 
ation, and  an  effort  to  attain  the  middle  ground 
whereon  faith  and  reason,  prescription  and  inquiry 
may  find  themselves  at  one.  All  do  not  discriminate 
between  Christianity  and  the  Church.  Imposture, 
rampant  around  ecclesiastical  altars,  may  cast  the 
shadow  of  its  rottenness  over  the  sacred  origins  of 
religion  and  Church.  Strauss's  declaration,  that  "  he 
who  would  banish  priests  from  the  Church  must 
first  banish  miracles  from  religion,"  is  but  the  out- 
growth of  hatred  towards  ignorance,  bigotry,  and  im- 
posture in  the  living  representatives  of  the  Founder 
of  the  Christian  Church. 

Furthermore,  the  discoveries  of  modern  science 
and  the  achievements  of  criticism  have  annihilated 
so  many  hypotheses  of  ancient  thinkers  ;  have  swept 
away  so  many  traditions,  venerable  with  age  and  con- 
secrated in  the  prejudices  of  nations  ;  have  re-written 
the  histories  of  so  many  men  and  so  many  peoples  ; 
have  unlocked  so  many  secrets,  and  explained  so 
many  mysteries  ;  have  reduced  so  many  fog-mount- 
ains to  molehills  ;  and  have  found  but  a  calf  in  the 
sanctum  of  so  many  temples  ;  in  short,  have  brought 
us  so  much  daylight,  and  left  the  ancients  so  be- 
nighted,— that  a  presumption  has  been  created  against 
every  ancient  belief;  and  that  which  can  not  verify 
itself  anew  in  inward  experience  or  by  outward  ex- 
periment and  observation,  must  fall  to  the  ground. 
We  are  in  the  midst  of  such  a  crisis.     We  rejoice 

28 


322  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

that  it  is  so.  Truth  has  nothing  to  fear.  The  more 
numerous  the  tests,  and  the  hotter  the  fires,  the 
brighter  will  be  the  luster  of  her  after-glory. 

Presuppositions. 

Since  some  things  must  be  taken  for  granted  in 
any  writing ;  and  whereas  many  things,  closely  con- 
nected with  our  theme,  have  been  amply  discussed 
and  satisfactorily  determined  elsewhere,  by  other 
writers,  we  must,  therefore,  request  the  hearer,  at 
the  outset,  to  concede  to  us  the  following  presup- 
positions : 

(a)  An  Historical  Presupposition  ;  namely, 
The  several  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  written 
by  the  persons  whose  names  they  bear ;  that  is,  they 
are  genuine. 

(b)  An  Ontological  Presupposition  ;  namely, 
The  supernatural  in  history  is  not  repugnant  to  reason. 

(c)  A  Psychological  Presupposition;  namely, 
There  is  something  in  majt  which  may  be  called  faith, 
or  intuition;  be  it  a  faculty  of  intellect,  or  a  power 
of  feeling,  or  a  mere  receptivity — something  which 
mediates  to  us  the  knowledge  of  God. 

When  the  apostle  John  says,  "And  we  beheld 
his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only-begotten  of  the 
Father,"*  he  appears  to  assume,  not  a  miraculous 
power  of  perception  in  the  disciples,  but  a  power 
resident  in  us  all,  more  developed  in  some  than  in 
others ;    a   power   whereby,    had   we,  who   are   here, 

*John  i,  14. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  323 

been  there,  with  Jesus  and  his  disciples,  we  should 
have  perceived  the  same  thing,  the  Divinity  incor- 
porate in  Jesus. 

Jesus  taught  that  this  perceptive  power,  this 
organon  of  spiritual  knowledge,  might  be  dimmed, 
and  even  blinded.  "  If  the  light  that  is  in  thee  be 
darkness,  how  great  is  that  darkness  !"*  If  this  eye 
be  "  single  " — that  is,  incorrupt — we  may  with  it  dis- 
cover the  treasures  of  the  unseen  world,  and  our 
hearts  will  be  ravished  with  their  beauty.  If  it  be 
"  evil,"  we  may  think  there  is  no  unseen  world,  be- 
cause we  perceive  it  not ;  that  is,  have  gone  past 
perceiving  it.  Are  there  not  those  who  "  having 
eyes  see  not,  and  having  ears  hear  not  ?"  Are  there 
not  things  which  "eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  but  God 
hath  revealed  them  unto  us  by  his  Spirit  ?"  This  may 
be,  and  doubtless  is,  in  most  of  us,  a  feeble  faculty,  a 
power  but  little  developed.  But  let  us  not  doubt  its 
reality  for  that  reason.  Perhaps  if  we  should  try,  we 
might  rub  these  eyes  open,  and  see  worlds  of  beauty 
hitherto  concealed.  This  spiritual  vision  made  Peter 
eminent  among  the  chosen,  who  were  all,  probably, 
selected  because  of  their  superior  endowment  there- 
with ;  and  upon  it  was  pronounced  the  blessing : 
"  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-Jona,  for  flesh  and 
blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven."  Tertullian  would,  doubtless, 
grant  us  what  we  claim,  for  he  says  :f  "  Who  ascer- 
tains truth  without  God  ?  To  whom  is  God  known 
without  Christ  ?     By  whom  is  Christ  explored  with- 

*  Matt,  vi,  22,  23.  t  Vide  our  motto. 


324  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

out  the  Holy  Spirit  ?  And  to  whom  is  the  Holy 
Spirit  granted  without  the  sacrament  of  faith?"  The 
mystic  discoveries  and  triumphs  of  Christian  experi- 
ence rest  upon  such  a  spiritual  power.  We  all,  in 
the  heart,  admit  it.     We  preach  it,  pray  it,  sing  it. 

"  My  prayer  hath  power  with  God  ;  the  grace 

Unspeakable  I  now  receive; 
Through  faith  I  see  Thee  face  to  face  ; 

I  see  thee  face  to  face,  and  live  ! 
In  vain  I  have  not  wept  and  strove : 
Thy  nature  and  thy  name  is  Love." 

Here,  then,  we  stand.  The  Gospel  narratives  have 
adequate  historic  verity.  The  mysterious  person  of 
Christ  is  not  to  be  rejected  at  the  outset  because  it 
is  supernatural ;  and  there  is  in  us  a  power  of  such 
a  nature  as,  if  cultivated,  will  aid  us  in  discerning 
the  wonderful  verities  of  our  Lord's  person. 

And  now  we  approach  more  directly  our  theme, 
beseeching  our  Lord  to  pardon  the  shortcomings  of 
thought,  and  by  his  own  illumination  to  fill  up,  and 
complete  in  your  minds,  the  necessarily  imperfect 
picture  we  shall  draw. 

We  humbly  propose  to  show  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
very  God,  and  very  man. 

I.    Divinity:    That  he  is  very  God. 

Let  us  bear  in  mind  that  we  speak  of  an  historical 
character ;  of  one  who  has  actually  lived  among  men, 
sharing  all  the  lowly  conditions  of  our  mortality, 
having  human  infirmities,  speaking  in  a  human  lan- 
guage, enjoying  the  friendships  and  incurring  the 
hatred  of  men  and  women,  and  closing  a  laborious, 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  325 

self-denying  life  with  a  most  tragic  and  humiliating 
death.  Of  such  a  person  we  speak,  who,  notwith- 
standing all,  claimed  to  be  much  more  than  a  man  ; 
and  his  claim  was  accepted  and  honored  by  all  who 
knew  him  well,  and  has  wrought  itself  into  the  foun- 
dation and  the  essence  of  .the  religion  bearing  his 
name.  It  has  been  well  said,  by  Dr.  Schenkel,  that 
"  no  religion  has  its  fortunes  and  its  results  so  closely 
connected  with  the  person  of  its  founder,  as  the 
Christian  religion."*  It  is  equally  true  that  no  relig- 
ion is  so  well  prepared  to  risk  its  existence  upon  the 
person  of  its  founder,  because  it  has  the  requisite 
historic  basis.  Much  as  infidels  ridicule  a  historic 
religion,  there  is  nothing  but  history,  that  is,  authen- 
ticated facts,  that  can  substantiate  a  revelation  and 
verify  a  deity.  An  invented  religion  may  serve  the 
purposes  of  a  philosopher  ;  but  dying  men  and  women 
call  for  a  revelation  and  a  "  living  God."  We  are  not, 
therefore,  appalled  by  the  greatness  of  the  problem 
before  us,  seeing  Divine  Wisdom  has  graciously  pro- 
vided abundant  material  for  its  solution. 

But  we  are  met,  at  the  outset,  with  the  assertion 
that  the  incarnation  of  Deity  is  impossible  and  absurd. 
The  Infinite,  it  is  claimed,  can  not  impose  limitations 
on  itself.     The  writer  last  quoted  says  : 

"  Statements  like  these,  namely,  that  he  imposed 
limitations  on  himself  in  regard  to  his  Divine  full- 
ness ;  that,  during  his  earthly  life,  he  made  no  use, 
or  only  a  partial  use,  of  his  Divine  powers, — are  not 
only  empty  and  unmeaning  subterfuges,  they  are  de- 
rogatory to  the  perfections  and  majesty  of  God.     A 

*  "  Character  of  Jesus  Portrayed,"  Am.  ed.,  Vol.  I,  chap.  i. 


326  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

god  who  limits  himself,  is  a  god  who  ceases  to  be 
God  ;  for  to  the  being  of  God  it  belongs,  above  all 
things,  to  be  unlimited.  By  propositions  of  this  sort, 
Christian  theology  sinks  to  the  level  of  heathen  rep- 
resentations of  God.  It  makes  him  a  being  change- 
able and  divisible  ;  that  is,  a  mere  personification  of 
forces  and  powers."* 

If  this  be  sound  philosophy,  there  is  an  end  of 
controversy.  We  should  not  care  to  defend  an  un- 
philosophic  and  self-contradictory  theology.  But  we 
must  confess  our  surprise  at  the  raising  of  this  objec- 
tion by  one  who  must  be  so  familiar  with  the  history 
of  thought.  Let  the  objector  reconcile  creation  and 
providence  and  revelation  with  the  infinitude  of  God 
if  he  can.  Let  him  solve  the  problem  of  the  indi- 
viduation of  the  absolute — a  favorite  with  the  school- 
men. When  he  has  done  this,  he  may  consistently 
apply  his  dialectics  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarna- 
tion. We  shall  not  need  to  tarry  here,  because  of 
the  prominence  given,  of  late  years,  to  the  philosophy 
of  the  Infinite,  and  because  of  the  large  circulation, 
in  our  country,  of  the  works  of  Cousin,  Hamilton, 
and  Mansel. 

Now,  remembering  the  authenticity  of  the  Gospels, 
assuming  metaphysical  or  ontological  difficulties  to 
be  satisfactorily  adjusted,  looking  upon  this  historical 
personage,  and,  for  the  time,  thinking  of  him  only  as 
a  man,  too  good  to  deceive,  and  too  wise  to  be  him- 
self deluded,  let  us  inquire  what  is  his  testimony 
concerning  himself.  A  man  who  exacts  no  pay, 
while  perpetually  rendering  most  inestimable  services  ; 

*  "  Character  of  Jesus  Portrayed, "Am.  ed.,  Vol.  I,  p.  4. 


THE  rERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  327 

who  courts  not  popularity,  but  shrinks  from  applause ; 
who  aims  at  no  advantage  for  himself,  and  cherishes 
not  a  shadow  of  ambition  for  fame  or  power ;  who 
finds  his  delight  in  relieving  the  poor,  in  healing  the 
sick,  in  restoring  outcasts  to  the  society  of  their 
kind  ;  who  is  happy  when  he  can  make  a  blind  man 
see,  and  when  he  can  restore  a  widow's  son  from  the 
embrace  of  death  to  his  mother's  arms, — such  a  man, 
if  he  lived  in  our  midst,  without  property,  without  of- 
fice, without  party,  without  social  distinction,  without 
clique,  or  clan,  or  cure,  or  cunning;  such  a  man,  we 
repeat,  would  command  our  confidence.  Nay,  more ; 
we  would  accept  his  testimony  on  any  subject  with 
which  he  ought  to  be  familiar,  in  preference  to  that 
of  any  other  man  in  the  community.  Nay,  yet  fur- 
ther ;  we  should  not  feel  ourselves  justified  in  differ- 
ing from  such  a  man.  If  he  testified  at  all  of  himself; 
if  he  spake  of  himself  with  such  reserve  and  candor 
as  his  great  deeds  would  require, — we  should  receive 
his  testimony,  as  much  more  likely  to  be  true  than 
the  opinions  of  others ;  especially  if  those  others 
were  unfriendly,  and  rendered  so  by  the  claims  of 
selfishness. 

Though  we  have  not  space  for  a  complete  and 
exhaustive  view  of  this  testimony,  we  notice,  briefly : 

1.  Some  indirect  testimonies  to  the  nature  of  His 
own  person. 

a.  "  Wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father  s 
business?"*  This  seems  to  be  something  more  than 
a  presentiment  of  a  future  prophetic  vocation.  Sam- 
uel received  a  Divine  call  when  a  child,  a  call  from 

*  Luke  ii,  49. 


328  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

without,  which  took  him  by  surprise,  and,  to  fulfill 
which,  he  was  educated.  Jesus,  a  lad  of  twelve 
years,  speaks  of  God  as  from  an  abiding  co7iscious- 
nessy  and  calls  him  his  "  Father."  This  betrays  an 
inner  light,  which  could. not  have  proceeded  from  ma- 
ternal instruction,  and  which  was  not  derived  from 
the  study  of  the  prophets.  Whence  can  it  have 
come  ?  Does  it  not  suggest  a  possible  grandeur  and 
mystery  of  person,  not  inclusible  within  the  ordinary 
limitations  of  humanity  ? 

b.  The  wonderful  child,  whose  strange  birth,  his- 
tory, and  sayings  were  treasured  up  in  a  mother's 
pondering  heart ;  the  lone  and  inspired  man  whom 
the  unsoiled  and  beautiful  souls*  sought,  and,  when 
they  found,  exclaimed,  "  We  have  found  him  of 
whom  Moses,  in  the  law  and  the  prophets,  did 
write  ;"f  this  man,  just  emerged  from  obscurity,  but 
brimful  of  "grace  and  truth" — the  truth  that  over- 
topped all  written  laws,  all  recorded  prophecies,  and 
the  grace  that  warmed  and  won,  like  the  morning's 
glory  on  dew-laden  flowers, — this  man  said,  "  Follow 
me."  The  love-smitten  souls  of  fishermen  and  tax- 
gatherers  left  pelf  and  toil,  profit  and  pleasure,  to 
rot  away  in  their  boats  and  coffers,  while  they  com- 
panied  with  him,  who  chained  them  to  himself  by  a 
spell,  which  was  the  sign  of  the  mysterious  and 
unmeasured  power  within  the  man.  What  was  it 
that  gave  authority  to  the  summons,  (<  M^  fnef* 
Something  in  the  man  ;  but  what  was  it  ?     And  what 

*  "  What  dost  thou  call  a  beautiful  soul  ?  Thou  callest  a  beauti- 
ful soul  one  that  is  quick  to  perceive  the  good,  that  gives  it  due  promi- 
nence, and  holds  it  immovably  fast." — Jacobi. 

tjohni,  45. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  329 

did  he  assume  when  he  said  "folloiv  f"  We  inter- 
pret as  if  he  said  :  "  I  have  that  to  give  which  is 
better  than  your  trades  and  gains,  better  than  your 
homes  and  friends;  that  which  ye  have  longed  for; 
that  which  men  every-where  would  have,  if  they 
could  buy  it  or  work  for  it.  It  is  in  me.  It  is  my 
birthright.  No  other  man  has  it."  They  saw  the 
reflection  of  the  inner  light,  did  they  not  ?  They  felt 
the.  attraction  of  the  hidden  power,  did  they  not  ? 

c.  The  first  sermon  of  Jesus  proclaimed  a  king- 
dom. "Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand."*  He  proclaimed  the  restoration  of  the  theoc- 
racy, as  says  the  author  of  "  Ecce  Homo."f  But  he 
pointed  to  no  successor  whose  credentials  he  would 
publish.  He  spake  not  of  a  king  yet  to  come, 
beneath  whose  scepter  the  "  quickening  fire "  Of  a 
golden  age  of  peace  should  make  beauty  and  bless- 
ing start  from  every  desert  soil  of  life.  But,  calmly 
taking  to  himself  the  royal  prerogatives,  he  lays 
down,  upon  his  own  authority,  the  laws  of  a  sover- 
eignty as  broad  as  the  human  race  and  more  en- 
during than  time.  As  Jehovah,  under  the  ancient 
theocracy,  pronounced  the  blessing  and  the  curse, 
so  now,  Jesus  declares  "blessing"  on  the  man  of 
love,  "  hell-fire "  on  the  man  of  hate.  When  he 
would  heal  the  palsied  man,  he  declares  his  sins  for- 
given ;  when  his  disciples  gather  and  eat  their  food 
on  the  Sabbath,  he  stops  the  mouth  of  caviling  by 
announcing  himself  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath ;  when 
his  dear  friend  has  been  four  days  dead,  and  the 
sisters   doubt   and  weep,  he   cries,  "  Lazarus,  come 

*  Matthew  iv,  17.  t  Chapter  iii. 

29 

I 


330  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

forth."  Among  the  living  and  the  dead,  in  nature's 
unconscious  laboratories,  and  in  the  quick  spirituali- 
ties of  human  hearts,  he  moves  alike  with  sovereign 
composure  and  undisputed  command.  Nature  never 
revolted.  Where  human  perverseness  resisted  and 
seemed  to  triumph,  it  was  evident  he  chose  not  to 
use  his  power.  Human  beings,  fanatics,  have  fancied 
themselves  kings ;  but  when  have  they,  without  purse 
and  without  armies,  persuaded  others  of  their  royT 
alty  ?  When  and  where  have  they  consistently,  com- 
posedly, beneficently,  maintained  their  claim,  amid 
the  hearty  responses  of  grateful  friends  and  indebted 
thousands  ? 

d.  But  among  the  indirect  testimonies  of  Jesus 
to  his  superhuman  excellence,  the  chief  importance 
must  be  attached  to  the  interior,  spiritual  functions 
which  he  takes  to  himself  in  relation  to  the  souls  of 
men. 

e.  He  is  legislator  for  the  spiritual  kingdom  in  his 
own  right.  "Jehovah  spake  unto  Moses,  saying," 
etc.;  but  Jesus  says,  "  I  say  unto  your  Whosoever 
kept  not  the  law  given  by  Jehovah  to  Moses,  was 
to  be  "  cut  off  from  his  people."  But  Jesus  says, 
"Whosoever  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine,  and 
doeth  them,  I  will  liken  him  unto  a  wise  man  which 
built  his  house  upon  a  rock,"  etc.* 

He  speaks  not  in  another's  name.  He  retires  to 
no  oracle  for  instructions  in  critical  moments.  He 
shelters  his  opinions  and  advices  under  cover  of  no 
ancient  and  revered  names.  He  commands  our  vir- 
tues, denounces  our  vices,  and  wields  with  serenity 

*  Matthew  vii,  24,  etc. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  33 1 

the  awful  decrees  of  irrevocable  fate.  He  set  out 
upon  his  ministry  with  the  assertion  of  this  prerog- 
ative, armed  as  yet  with  the  sole  might  of  his  person, 
and  before  he  had  wrought  the  wonderful  works  that 
drew  all  eyes  to  him.  Out  of  his  own  consciousness 
of  inherent  majesty  and  right  comes  his  legislating ; 
not  from  the  consent  of  the  popular  voice. 

f.  He  is  the  supreme  object  of  our  heart-devotion. 
With  a  keen  glance,  and  without  any  knowingness,  he 
fathomed  the  human  heart.  He  saw  it,  a  tender  dove, 
in  its  weather-beaten  ark,  floating  over  the  comfort- 
less waters  of  submerged  joys  and  extinguished  hopes. 
He  saw  its  panting,  its  worrying,  its  longing ;  its  fret- 
ted wings,  its  disappointed  efforts,  its  untried  powers. 
He  spake  to  it :  "  O,  suffering  humanity !  leave  all 
thy  crushed  treasures  and  come  to  me.  Forget  the 
wild  roar  of  the  troubled  waters  beneath  thee  in  the 
peaceful  haven  of  my  bosom.  Cease  thy  strivings, 
and  the  beating  of  thy  frail  wings.  Take  the  'olive- 
branch  '  of  my  promise,  and  be  at  rest.  I  will  assuage 
the  waters."  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and 
are  heavy-laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."*  How 
great  was  his  heart,  that  could  take  us  all  in!  How 
vast  the  resources  of  a  nature  that  can  drink  up  all 
the  depths  of  our  sorrow!  Did  ever  man  speak  so 
before  ?  Was  he  but  a  man  ?  If  he  were,  did  he  not 
wofully  deceive  himself  when  he  thought  he  could 
comfort  us  ? 

But,  again,  he  saw  that  man  could  be  redeemed 
only  through  his  affectional  nature  ;  that  he  could  not 
be  permanently  withdrawn  from  his  sins  except  by 
*Matt.  xi,  28. 


332  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

attaching  him  to  some  better  being,  as  a  ship  is 
moored  to  the  dock.  He  knew,  too,  the  supremacy 
of  conscience  in  man,  the  indisputable  and  indefeasi- 
ble sovereignty  of  rectitude,  even  in  the  fallen  nature ; 
so  that  there  could  be  no  mooring  of  the  soul  to  an 
imperfect,  fallible  being.  The  attempt  to  tie  our 
hearts  in  supreme  devotion  to  a  less  than  infallible 
being,  would  inevitably  create  internal  dissension  and 
warfare.  But  Jesus  proposed  peace  and  righteous- 
ness. Hence,  to  demand  our  sovereign  affections  for 
himself,  were  treason,  not  only  to  God,  but  to  us,  if 
he  were  only  a  man  like  ourselves,  however  pure  and 
refined.  Yet,  although  he  says,  "  Thou  shalt  love 
the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,"  etc.,*  he  also 
says  :  "  If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  commandments  ;"f 
"  He  that  loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  me  is 
not  worthy  of  me  ;"$  "  He  that  loseth  his  life  for  my 
sake  shall  find  it."§  Many  a  time  friendship  has  laid 
human  lives  on  the  altar  of  sacrifice.  Many  a  time 
have  loyal  heroes,  fired  with  passion  for  glory,  fol- 
lowed chivalric  leaders  to  bloody  graves.  But  who 
ever,  before  or  since  Jesus,  challenged  our  dying  love 
for  himself?  Many  a  one  has  said,  "  Fight  and  die 
for  your  country ;"  but  who  else  than  this  one  has 
said,  "  Fight  and  die  for  me  ?"  Who,  besides  him, 
has  ever  said,  "  When  the  issue  is  made  between 
father  and  mother  and  me,  choose  me  ?"  Who  but 
him  has  said,  "  When  thy  wife  and  children  stand 
between  thee  and  me,  put  them  aside  ?"  How  like 
the  mandates  of  conscience !     This  inward    monitor 

*Matt.  xxii,  37;  Mark  xii,  30;  Luke  x,  27.        tjohn  xiv,  15. 
X  Matt,  x,  37.  §  Matt,  x,  39. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  333 

says,  "  Die,  rather  than  lie,  or  cheat,  or  murder." 
Jesus  says,  "  Die,  rather  than  betray  me."  May  it  be 
that  our  fealty  to  rectitude  and  to  Jesus  is  all  one 
and  the  same  ?     Does  he  not  assume  it  ? 

g.  But,  again,  he  presents  himself  as  the  world's 
Savior.  "  No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by 
me."*  "  No  descent  from  Abraham,  no  covenant 
privilege,  no  keeping  of  laws,  can  give  one  acceptance 
with  the  Father.  This  comes  only  of  my  mediation." 
"  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life."f  "  I  mediate 
access  to  the  Father.  None  other  can.  I  illuminate 
the  human  mind.  I  give  the  knowledge  of  the  Fa- 
ther. I  bestow  the  power  of  a  new  life.  I  raise 
souls,  that  are  dead  in  sin,  to  the  life  of  righteous- 
ness." Could  Paul  use  such  language  ?  Could  he 
give  life  ?  Or  did  he  count  "  all  things  loss  for 
the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  ?"  J 
Did  Paul  imagine  a  new  creation,  originating  with 
himself?  Or  did  he  say,  "If  any  man  be  in  Christ, 
he  is  a  new  creature  ?"§  Was  it,  then,  as  a  man 
among  men  that  Jesus  said,  "  I  am  the  way,  the 
truth,  and  the  life?!'||      Let  prophet  or  holy  man  say, 

*Jolin  xiv,  6.  tldem.         J  Phil,  iii,  8.         §  2  Cor.  v,  17. 

||  We  quote  here  with  pleasure  the  words  of  Dr.  Gess  :  "  The 
position  which  Jesus  takes  toward  us  corresponds  to  that  which  he 
wishes  us  to  take  towards  him.  A  Moses  may  well  desire  the  Israel- 
ites to  believe  in  him  and  to  trust  him  (cf.  Exodus  xiv,  31  :  "And 
the  people  feared  the  Lord,  and  believed  the  Lord,  and  his  servant 
Moses  ")  ;  but  only  by  reason  of  the  commission  and  the  prophetic 
endowment  which  God  has  given  the  prophet,  not  because  of  the 
inner  essence  of  his  person.  The  purpose  of  that  Divine  endowment 
being  attained,  the  relation  of  subordination  between  the  prophet  and 
the  people  ceases,  and  another  prophet  may  step  into  the  place  of  the 
first.  Every  prophet,  the  truer  a  prophet  he  is,  the  more  certainly, 
must  desire  his  own  decrease,  his  own  retreat  (cf.  John  iii,  30),  and 


334  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

"  Ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me  ;"*  shall  it 
not  sound  as  blasphemy  in  our  ears  ?  But  the  words 
drop  from  the  lips  of  Jesus,  and  create  no  shock.  He 
is  about  to  leave  his  disciples — to  die.  But  he  as- 
sures them  he  dies  not  as  others  die.  "  I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a 
place  for  you,  I  will  come  again,  and  receive  you 
unto  myself;  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be 
also/'f  Is  it  blasphemy  ?  The  disciples  do  not  think 
it.  Is  he  beside  himself?  The  words  are  very  sober, 
for  a  lunatic.  If  this  were  lunacy,  then  the  disciples 
also  were  lunatics,  and  so  continued,  until  they  be- 
came martyrs  for  their  lunacy.  This  is  a  lunacy, 
too,  that  has  had  a  strange  power  of  self-propagation, 
a  marvelous  pertinacity  of  endurance,  a  fertile  pro- 
ductiveness of  every  thing  good,  and  the  power  to 
organize  society  and  erect  social  institutions,  surpass- 
ing the  highest  achievements  of  reason.  Is  there  not 
in  him,  that  so  addresses  us,  a  consciousness  of  ex- 
cellence more  than  human  ;  a  feeling  that  he  can  do 
for  us  what  all  the  good  and  great  might  strive  in 
vain  to  do  ?  But  who  can  utter  the  bitterness  of  the 
mockery,  and  the  stupendous  sottishness  of  the  im- 
posture, if  these  be  the  words  of  one  who  is  but 
wrought  up  by  enthusiasm  to  the  counting  on  imag- 

the  ascending  of  all  to  his  prophetic  elevation.  On  the  contrary,  Jesus, 
at  the  approach  of  his  departure,  says  to  his  disciples,  "  Ye  believe  in 
God,  believe  also  in  me.'1'1  (John  xiv,  I.)  And,  while  a  prophet  exacts 
more  faith  in  his  person  of  the  less  experienced,  but  is  obligated  to  di- 
rect those  of  riper  religious  experience  to  their  own  immediate  experi- 
ence of  communion  with  God,  Jesus,  on  the  other  hand,  induced  much 
rather  the  most  experienced — namely,  his  disciples — to  build  their  en- 
tire inner  life  upon  communion  with  his  person."  (Die  Lehre  von  der 
Person  Christi,  u.  s.  w.,  1856,  p.  5.)        *John  xiv,  1.        tld.,  2,  3. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  335 

inary  powers  ;  or,  still  worse,  if  they  proceed  from 
one  who,  being  delegated  by  the  Supreme  Benefactor 
of  the  world  to  do  us  a  great  service,  practices  upon 
our  credulity,  by  drawing  our  attention  to  himself  in- 
stead of  the  Universal  Father. 

But  turn  to  another  scene,  and  behold  this  same 
person  in  the  crowded  temple,  confronting  his  per- 
sistent enemies  and  rejecters.  He  is  weary  of  de- 
nouncing sin,  and  longs  for  some  sign  of  relenting. 
See  the  risings  of  his  heart  towards  his  recreant 
household.  Behold  the  forgetting  of  conventions, 
and  the  oblivion  of  the  machinations  of  enemies  and 
of  the  selfish  artifices  of  a  cold  world.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  pictures  in  the  records  of  this 
wonderful  life.  Looking  into  the  faces  of  sordid 
money-changers,  of  loose  debauchees,  of  flaunting 
courtesans,  of  wily  demagogues,  of  hypocritical  Phar- 
isees, of  artless  countrymen  and  countrywomen,  and 
thoughtless  of  all  but  their  souls'  worth,  he  exclaims : 
"  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  proph- 
ets, and  stonest  them  which  are  sent  unto  thee, 
how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  to- 
gether, even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under 
her  wings,  and  ye  would  not!"*  Are  we  mistaken? 
or  is  there  in  the  words  "how  often"  a  backward 
glance  of  a  more  than  human  memory  over  ages 
gone  by,  when  this  gracious  presence,  not  yet  be- 
come incarnate,  watched  over  his  chosen  people  and 
endured  their  rebellions  ? 

2.  But,  secondly,  we  introduce  the  more  direct 
testimonies  of  Jesus  to  the  nature  of  his  own  person ; 

*  Matt,  xxiii,  37. 


3  3 6  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

testimonies  which  unequivocally  avow  his  divinity,  or 
at  least  assume  for  him  the  attributes  of  Deity. 

a.  He  claims  a  pre-mundane  and  eternal  existence. 

He  "  came  down  from  heaven  ;"*  he  was  in 
heaven  before  his  earthly  existence :  "  What  and  if 
ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  ascend  up  where  he  was 
before  ?"f  He  was  in  glory  with  the  Father,  before 
the  world  was  :  "And  now,  O  Father,  glorify  thou  me 
with  thine  own  self  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with 
thee  before  the  world  was." J  He  was,  nay  he  is, 
before  Abraham  :  "  Before  Abraham  was,  I  am."§ 

When  we  endeavor  to  understand  the  words  "  be- 
fore the  world  was,"  shall  we  conceive  a  limitless 
stretch  of  time  antecedent  to  the  creation  of  the 
world  ?  Shall  we  banish  from  conception  all  rolling 
worlds,  all  shining  light,  all  marked  periods,  all  rev- 
olutions, and  all  sounds  ;  and  conceive  the  solitary, 
soundless  rush  of  the  thoughts  of  God,  like  a  spiritual 
Tequendama  in  an  unfrequented  Andes  .^  Shall  we 
behold  one  separate  thought  spring  out  from  the 
dread  abyss,  and  by  Divine  volition  become  a  con- 
scious being,  an  armed  Minerva,  an  angel  of  light,  a 
companion  of  a  hitherto  solitary  God  ?  Does  he 
spring  into  a  splendid  florescence  of  beauty?  a  gor- 
geous affluence  of  majesty  and  power  ?  Does  he 
receive  much  and  bestow  much  ?  Does  he  call  into 
existence  many  ranks  of  intelligent  and  social  be- 
ings ?  Does  he  form  abodes  of  paradisiac  beauty 
and  elegance  for  their  entertainment  and  delectation? 
Does  he  lead  a  life  of  untarnished  glory  and  triumph 

*  John  iii,  13  ;   vi,  38.  t  John  vi,  62. 

J  John  xvii,  5.  §John  viii,  58. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  337 

through  the  skies,  in  perpetual  ovation  ?  Does  the 
wealth  of  his  love  pour  floods  of  blessing  through 
the  worlds,  and  meet  responsive  songs  of  grateful 
hallelujahs  from  thronging  millions  of  happy  crea- 
tures ?  Is  this  the  being  who  now,  a  traveling 
Prince,  turns  his  eye,  from  a  distant  and  disor- 
dered world,  back  to  his  Father's  throne,  and  prays, 
"  Glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with  the  glory 
which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was?"* 
Such  was  the  doctrine  of  Arius,  an  accomplished 
man  of  the  early  part  of  the  fourth  century,  a  doc- 
trine which  gave  rise  to  the  Ecumenical  Council 
of  Nice,  wherein  it  was  condemned.  It  must  be 
rejected  by  us,  not  because  it  was  thus  condemned 
by  the  Council,  but  because,  whatever  Gordian  knots 
of  metaphysical  obscurity  it  severs,  it  does  not  meet 
the  demands  of  Biblical  interpretation.  Take  due 
note  of  the  words,  "  The  glory  which  I  had  with 
thee"  Is  this  the  language  of  a  created  being  ? 
What  creature,  however  exalted,  may  share  the  Di- 
vine glory?  How  vast,  how  incomprehensible,  the 
gulf  between  the  Infinite  God  and  the  highest  of  his 
creatures !  Indeed,  the  most  exalted  creature,  no 
more  than  the  meanest,  could  partake  of  the  ineffable 
glory  of  God.  It  is  the  creatureship,  not  any  relative 
degree  of  littleness,  that  forbids  the  participation. 
Then  the  added  words,  "Before  the  world  was"  were 
it  not  puerile  to  explain  thus :  "  Before  the  earth 
was  formed  and  its  inhabitants  created,  but  still  after 
creation  had  begun  ?"  This  is  as  if  we  should  inter- 
pret "  before   Abraham  was,   I   am,"   thus :   "  Before 

*John  xvii,  5. 


338  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

Abraham,  to  be  sure,  but  not  earlier  than  Adam ;  or, 
if  earlier  than  Adam,  at  least  contemporaneous  with 
Gabriel;  or,  at  farthest,  just  a  little  before  Gabriel;  a 
few  years,  at  most."  This  is  a  reductio  ad  absurdutti 
of  our  Savior's  words.  He  spake  too  seriously  and 
too  grandly  to  be  thus  understood.  In  his  thought, 
"before  the  world  was,"  and  "before  Abraham  was," 
signify  before  the  creation,  and  antecedent  to  the 
course  of  time.*  The  glory  he  had  enjoyed,  and  had 
laid  aside,  was  a  pre-mundane  glory,  without  condi- 
tions and  limits,  outside  of  all  the  befores  and  afters 
of  our  human  life.  Otherwise,  why  did  he  employ 
the  peculiar  phraseology,  "  Before  Abraham  was,  / 
am"  when,  if  a  creature,  u  I  was,"  was  the  language 
he  should  have  employed,  both  for  truth's  and  gram- 
mar's sake  ?  Did  he  not  know  that  "  I  am  "  was  the 
peculiar  and  most  dreadful  name  of  the  God  of  the 
Jews  ?  Did  he  not  know  that  they  so  reverenced  it 
as  to  substitute  for  it  another  word,  on  ordinary 
occasions,  so  that  they  might  not  profane  the  holy 
name?     And  were  they  not  exasperated  by  his  self- 

•5"I  came  down  from  heaven  ;'  'I  came  out  from  the  Father;' 
1  Glorify  thou  me  with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world 
was  ;'  4  That  they  may  behold  the  glory  which  thou  hast  given  me  :  for 
thou  lovedst  me  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  ;'  '  Before  Abraham 
was,  I  am  ;' — in  these  expressions  Jesus,  in  a  plain  and  incontroverti- 
ble manner,  ascribes  to  himself  a  glory  before  the  temporal  world  was, 
and,  therefore,  before  time  itself.  He  was  with  the  Father,  in  the  same 
glory  which  he  has  in  his  post-temporal  life,  wherein  all  power  in 
heaven  and  upon  earth  is  given  over  to  him  ;  and  he  has  power  to 
bestow  the  Holy  Ghost.  He  also  ascribes  to  himself  a  changeless 
life  ;  not  one  of  becoming  and  of  passing  away,  but  one  of  being.  Is 
not  this  just  what  we  should  expect  of  him  who  says  :  I  am  the  life ; 
baptize  in  my  name ;  my  voice  shall  wake  the  dead  ?"  (Gess,  "  Die 
Lehre  v.  d.  Person  Christi,"  p.  28.) 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  339 

appropriation  of  this  supreme  name  ?  Did  they  not 
take  up  stones  to  put  him  to  death,  as  a  capital 
offender?  Again,  if  he  were  the  good  and  true  man 
we  have  believed  him  to  be,  what  are  we  now  forced 
to  concede  ?  Either  that  he  was  God,  as  he  claimed 
to  be>  or  that  he  was  w  of  idly  deceived  concerning 
Jiimself.  Was  he  likely  to  be  deceived?  Could  the 
author  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  be  easily  mis- 
taken on  any  subject  pertaining  to  morals  and  relig- 
ion ?  Keep  this  point  steadily  in  view.  Is  there  any 
intellectual  production  in  the  world,  in  all  the  litera- 
tures of  all  the  ages,  equal  to  that  mountain  dis- 
course ?  Did  Confucius  ever  rise  to  its  placid 
elevation  ?  Did  Plato  ever  attain  its  sublime  vision  ? 
Did  any  other  discourse  ever  so  vindicate  its  truth- 
fulness in  the  consciences  of  men  ?  Here  are  teach- 
ings at  the  very  top  of  all  the  wisdom  of  time.  Was 
their  author  an  enthusiast  ? '  Was  he  a  sciolist  ? 
Was  he  fanciful  ?  Was  he  sentimental  ?  Was  he 
weak-minded  ? 

Again,  his  enemies  were  Pharisees  and  scribes, 
men  who  taught  that  it  was  a  great  offense  to  eat 
without  washing,  or  to  send  for  a  physician  on  the 
Sabbath  ;  but  it  was  venial  to  profane  the  common 
name  by  which  Jehovah  was  known,  or  to  defraud 
parents  in  the  name  of  sanctity.  These  men  said 
Jesus  was  an  impostor,  and  denied  his  Messiahship. 
Who  was  more  likely  to  be  mistaken — the  casuistic 
Pharisee,  or  Jesus  ?  We  must  renounce  our  common 
sense,  or  accept  the  testimony  of  Jesus. 

b.  He  claims  self-existence  in  the  words,  "  Before 
Abraham  was,  I  am!' 


34°  INGHAM  LECTURES.       . 

c.  He  assumes  essential  equality  with  the  Father. 
"  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father."*  "  I 
and  my  Father  are  one."f  "  No  man  knoweth  the 
Son,  but  the  Father ;  neither  knoweth  any  man  the 
Father,  save  the  Son."J 

d.  He  makes  himself  the  source  of  spiritual  life, 
and  the  quickener  of  the  physically  dead.  "  I  am  the 
way,  the  truth,  and  the  life."§  "  For  as  the  Father 
raiseth  up  the  dead,  and  quickeneth  them  ;  even  so 
the  Son  quickeneth  whom  he  will." ||  "For  as  the 
Father  hath  life  in  himself;  so  hath  he  given  to  the 
Son  to  have  life  in  himself."^[  Can  he  have  life  in 
himself  whose  existence  is  derived  and  has  a  begin- 
ning ?  Is  there  not  a  contradiction  in  the  conception 
of  a  created  life-giver  ? 

e.  In  concluding  our  meager  notice  of  the  direct 
testimonies  of  Jesus  to  his  divinity,  we  may  not  omit 
what  is  perhaps  the  plainest  and  most  emphatic  of 
all,  and  which  is  often  called  the  baptismal  formula : 
"Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing 
them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost."**  This  is  not  only  a  substantial, 
but  also  a  formal,  assumption  of  the  prerogatives  of 
Deity.  Baptism  formally  devoted  the  man  to  the 
exclusive  worship  and  service  of  God.  Creatures 
have  no  place  as  the  objects  of  baptismal  worship 
and  service.  But  here  is  a  careful  and  deliberate 
array  of  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost  along  with  the 
Father,  as  the  united  object  of  baptism.  Criticism 
has  sometimes  attempted  to  expunge  the  words  from 

*  John  xiv,  9.      t  John  x,  30.     %  Matt,  xi,  27.     §  John  xiv,  6. 
||  John  v,  21.  IF  John  v,  26.  **  Matt,  xxviii,  19. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  34 1 

the  text,  but  authority  fails.  Anti-trinitarians  usually 
evade  the  passage  in  their  arguments.  Here,  how- 
ever, is  the  attempt  of  one  who  is  bold  enough  to 
hazard  his  cause  against  this  stronghold  of  the  truth : 
"  This  teaches  no  trinity  of  persons,  much  less  of 
equal  persons  in  the  Godhead.  On  the  contrary,  the 
use  of  the  word  Son  implies  inferiority.  The  words 
mean  that  we  should  be  baptized  into  faith  in  God  as 
our  Father,  in  the  Son  of  God  as  our  Savior,  and  in 
the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  guiding  influence  which  pro- 
ceeds from  God.  This  comprises  the  whole  Christian 
faith.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  to  be  baptized  in 
the  Son  is  a  proof  of  his  deity;  but  it  is  not  so,  for 
Paul  speaks  of  the  Jews  as  having  been  baptized  into 
Moses.*  Nor  does  it  follow,  because  the  three  are 
spoken  of  together,  that  they  are  equal  to  each  other, 
for  we  read :  '  The  people  came  to  Moses  and  said, 
We  have  sinned  ;  we  have  spoken  against  Jehovah 
and  against  thee.'f  And,  again,  'All  the  congrega- 
tion blessed  Jehovah,  God  of  their  fathers,  and  bowed 
down  their  heads,  and  worshiped  Jehovah  and  the 
king.'|  And,  '  David  said  to  Abigail,  Blessed  be 
Jehovah,  God  of  Israel,  who  sent  thee  this  day  to 
meet  me :  and  blessed  be  thy  advice,  and  blessed  be 
thou,  who  hast  kept  me  this  day  from  coming  to 
shed  blood.'§  You  will  observe  the  strength  of  this 
language.  It  is  an  ascription  of  praise,  first  to  Jeho- 
vah, God  of  Israel,  then  to  her  advice,  and  then  to 
herself.  But  the  ascription  is  to  be  understood  dif- 
ferently in  each  case.     So,  when  we  read  that  they 

*  1  Cor.  x,  2.  t  Numb,  xxi,  7. 

%  1  Chron.  xxix,  20.  §  1  Sam.  xxv,  32. 


342  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

worshiped  Jehovah  and  the  king,  we  understand  the 
first  as  supreme  worship,  and  the  second  as  the 
homage  of  respect.  In  all  such  cases,  which  are 
frequent  in  the  Bible,  common  sense  saves  us  from 
error.  Although  two  or  three  subjects  are  spoken  of 
in  the  same  connection,  it  does  not  follow  that  they 
are  spoken  of  in  the  same  sense,  much  less  that  they 
are  the  same  thing,  or  equal  to  each  other.  Nor  does 
it  follow  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  a  person  because  we 
are  baptized  into  its  name  ;  for,  according  to  a  com- 
mon mode  of  expression  among  the  Jews,  the  name 
of  a  thing  often  meant  the  thing  itself.  So  the 
Rabbins  speak  of  being  baptized  into  the  name  of 
liberty,  and  the  Samaritans  circumcised  their  con- 
verts into  the  name  of  Mt.  Gerizim."* 

Let  it  be  observed,  in  reply,  that  we  are  forbidden 
to  infer  the  Divine  nature  of  the  Son  of  God  from 
his  position  as  an  object  of  baptismal  honor,  because 
in  one  place  it  is  declared  that  the  Israelites  were 
baptized  unto  Moses.  Now,  we  remember  that  bap- 
tism is  made  an  antitype  of  the  deliverance  from  the 
flood. f  It  will  doubtless  be  conceded,  on  all  hands, 
that,  in  the  passage  cited  from  Corinthians,  St.  Paul 
makes  it  the  antitype  of  the  deliverance  of  Israel 
from  the  Red  Sea.  Therefore  the  baptism  unto 
Moses  is  not  real,  but  figurative  ;  and  the  putting 
Moses  in  such  a  relation  to  that  figurative  baptism, 
is  only  an  acknowledgment  of  his  historic  position 
as  leader  and  deliverer  of  Israel.  Moses,  as  a 
prophet,  was,  in    some    sense,  an   object  of   faith   to 

*  "  Doctrines  of  Christianity,"  by  Wm,  G.  Elliot,  pp.  22,  23. 
1 1  Peter,  iii,  21. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  343 

Israel ;  but,  in  the  passage  in  question,  there  is  no 
allusion  to  Moses  other  than  historical.  The  con- 
nection requires,  simply,  a  forgetting  of  Moses,  and 
an  absorbing  of  the  mind  in  the  deliverance.  There 
is,  therefore,  in  this  use,  by  the  apostle,  of  the  words 
"baptized  unto  Moses,"  as  compared  with  the  other 
places  of  the  New  Testament,  wherein  universally 
God  or  Christ  is  made  the  object  of  baptism,  a  good 
opportunity  for  the  application  of  the  above  writer's 
words,  "  Commen  sense  saves  us  from  error." 

As  regards  the  import  of  mentioning  the  names 
of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  together,  it  is  vain 
to  cite  instances  of  the  kind  mentioned.  It  is  uni- 
versally held  by  scholars  that  a  purely  doctrinal 
passage  is  to  be  interpreted  more  rigidly  than  an 
incidental  bit  of  narrative.  Where  there  is  a  con- 
scious regard  to  the  doctrinal  import  of  one's  words, 
and  an  intention  of  teaching  something,  we  may  find 
a  ground  of  valid  inference,  which  may  not  be  justi- 
fied in  an  incidental  remark  of  the  historian.  When 
Jesus,  the  sublimest  of  all  teachers,  enjoins  baptism 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  he  is  unquestionably  teaching  his  disci- 
ples to  co-ordinate  those  blessed  hypostases  of  the 
Divine  Nature.  For  this  utterance  does  not  stand 
alone.  It  must  be  taken  in  connection  with  the  other 
sayings  of  our  Lord  :  "  I  and  my  Father  are  one  ;"* 
"  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father."! 
And,  again,  "  But  when  the  Comforter  is  come,  whom 
I  will  send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit 
of  truth,  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,     .     .     . 

♦John  x,  30.  tjohn  xiv,  9. 


344  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

he  will  guide  you  into  all  truth  ;  ...  he  will 
shew  you  things  to  come  ;  ...  he  shall  glorify 
me."*  It  is  evident,  too,  although  the  writer  to 
whom  we  reply,  ignores  it,  that  the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  are,  in  baptism,  a  personal  object 
of  faith,  not  a  mere  subject,  of  propositions.  The 
recipient  of  baptism  signified,  in  his  recipiency,  some- 
thing more  than  a  mere  confession  of  the  existence 
of  God,  and  of  Jesus  Christ,  his  Son,  our  Savior,  and 
of  an  influence  from  God  delusively  called  the  Holy 
Spirit.  John  Baptist  proclaimed,  "He  shall  baptize 
you  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire."f  Jesus 
said,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God. "J 
Do  these  words  import  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  but  a 
name  ?  Do  they  signify  that  the  baptized  merely 
acknowledges  a  creed  ?  Or  do  they  assume  that  the 
subject  of  baptism  receives  a  Divine  power,  and  en- 
ters into  a  new  spiritual  relation  ?  To  whom  does 
he  hold  this  relation,  if  not  to  the  being  in  whose 
name  he  is  baptized  ?  To  the  Unitarian  these  grand 
distinctions  and  titles,  pertaining  to  the  Divinity,  may 
be  only  subjects  of  belief;  but  to  us  they  are  objects 
of  faith.  We  do  not  insist  on  the  word  "person"  as 
applied  to  them.  It  has  never  been  regarded,  from 
Augustine  to  our  own  time,  as  adequate  to  the  truth. 
It  misleads,  of  necessity,  until  we  put  ourselves  on 
guard  against  it.  But  it  is  our  infirmity,  that  we 
have  not  found  a  word  fitted  to  take  its  place. 

When   we   remember   that  Jesus   has  continually 
demanded    our    unlimited    faith    in    his    person,    our 

*John  xv,  26;  xvi,  13,  14.        f  Matt,  iii,  11.        J  John  iii,  5. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  345 

resting  of  all  spiritual  hopes  thereon,  we  can  not 
doubt  that  when  he  places  himself  alongside  the 
Father,  in  the  formula  of  baptism,  he  still  aims  at 
our  immortal,  saving  trust  in    himself,  as  in  God. 

We  have  noticed  but  few  of  the  utterances  of 
Jesus  which  more  or  less  plainly  avow  his  Divine 
nature.  Time  and  space  forbid  an  attempt  at  ex- 
hausting this  review.  The  sayings  of  Jesus,  suffice 
it  to  say,  are  all  permeated  with  the  idea  of  his 
superhuman  and  Divine  nature.  When  this  is  not 
expressly  avowed  and  brought  into  the  foreground  of 
the  picture,  it  lies  in  the  background,  and  throws  its 
coloring  over  the  whole.  When  he  speaks  as#"one 
having  authority ;"  when  he  names  himself  u  the 
Bridegroom,"  as  did  Jehovah  in  the  Old  Covenant ; 
when  he  bids  the  world  come  to  him  and  live ;  when 
he  raises  the  widow's  son  upon  his  bier ;  when  he 
rises,  himself,  from  the  grave, — in  all  these  things 
are  conspicuous  to  the  unbiased  reader  now,  as  to 
the  pious  disciple  of  old,  the  manner  and  the  power 
of  God! 

3.  We  have  reserved  for  this  place  a  brief  dis- 
cussion of  the  import  of  the  phrase,  "  Son  of  God" 
although  the  understanding  of  it  is  indispensable  to 
the  right  appreciation  of  the  baptismal  formula,  ot 
which  we  have  already  treated. 

We  assume  that  we  are  all  sufficiently  familiar 
with  the  fact  that  the  phrase,  "  Son  of  God,"  is 
sometimes  applied,  in  the  Old  Testament,  to  holy 
men,  and  men  of  exalted  position  in  the  Theocracy. 
We  need,  also,  only  to  advert,  in  passing,  to  the  fact 
that   the   same   title   is  employed,  as  in  the  second 

30 


346  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

Psalm,  to  designate  the  promised  Messiah.  The 
question  now  is,  whether  the  title,  as  applied  to 
Jesus,  was  any  thing  more  than  the  official  Messi- 
anic title  ;  whether  it  signified  his  Divine  essence.  It 
may  be  granted  that,  in  the  announcement  of  his 
Sonship  at  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  and  afterwards  at  the 
transfiguration,  the  primary  object  was  to  point  him 
out  as  the  Messiah,  rather  than  to  declare  any  thing 
concerning  his  nature.  The  same  may  be  true  of 
John  Baptist's  confession,  "And  I  saw  and  bare 
record  that  this  is  the  Son  of  God  ;"*  and  of  that  of 
Nathaniel,  "  Thou  art  the  Son  of  God  ;  thou  art  the 
King  of  Israel."!  But,  it  is  evident,  a  different  and 
higher  relation  is  indicated  in  the  words  of  Jesus, 
"All  things  are  delivered  unto  me  of  my  Father: 
and  no  man  knoweth  the  Son,  but  the  Father ; 
neither  knoweth  any  man  the  Father,  save  the 
Son."$  This  is  no  official  dignity,  but  a  vital  and 
pre-mundane  relation  between  the  Everlasting  Fa- 
ther and  the  Son,  a  mystic  union  which  only  Divine 
Wisdom  comprehends.  He  assumes  the  same  rela- 
tion, not  of  identity,  but  of  Sonship,  when  he  says, 
"  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father."§  It 
is  only  a  theoretical  prepossession  and  bias  that  can 
resist  the  force  of  such  declarations.  Compare,  more- 
over, the  words,  "  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that 
he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believ- 
eth  in  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
life." ||  That  the  term  "only  begotten"  does  not  refer 
to  the  temporal  phenomenon  of  the  birth  from  Mary, 

*John  i,  34.  tjohn  i,  49.  J  Matt,  xi,  27. 

§  John  xiv,  9.  II  John  iii,  16. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  347 

is  evident  from  such  passages  as  I  have  already- 
quoted  ;*  and  from  this,  "And  now,  O  Father,  glorify 
thou  me  with  thine  own  self  with  the  glory  which  I 
had  with  thee  before  the  world  was  ;"f  and  from 
many  other  utterances  of  the  Savior  himself,  not  to 
speak,  now,  of  those  of  his  apostles.  The  opinion 
that  the  appellation,  "  Son  of  God,"  was  given  in  a 
distinctive  sense  to  Jesus,  only  because  of  his  super- 
natural incarnation,  has  been  maintained  by  some 
scholars  ;  but  no  profound  scholar  or  capable  critic 
of  the  present  day  would  risk  his  reputation  on  such 
a  hypothesis.  The  Jews  themselves,  unless  John  has 
deceived  us,  understood  the  title  in  its  highest  sense 
when  Jesus  said,  "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and 
I  work  "\  for  "  they  sought  the  more  to  kill  him,  be- 
cause he  not  only  had  broken  the  Sabbath,  but  said 
also  that  God  was  his  Father,  making  himself  equal 
with  6W."§ 

If  we  turn,  now,  to  inquire  how  the  apostles  un- 
derstood this  peculiar  name,  and  how  they  employed 
it,  we  find  John,  who  knew  him  best  as  a  human 
being,  most  decidedly  impressed  with  his  Divinity, 
and  clearly  conveying  it  in  the  use  of  the  name  Son, 
and  its  equivalent,  "only  begotten!1  "And  the  Word 
was  made  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us,  full  of  grace 
and  truth  ;  and  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of 
the  only  begotten  of  the  Father." ||  And,  again,  "No 
man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time  ;  the  only  begotten 
Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath 
declared  him."^[     "  In  this  was  manifested  the  love 

*Matt.  xi,  27.  tjohn  xvii,  5.  J  John  v,  17. 

§Johnv,  18.  ||  John  i,  14.  fid.,  18. 


348  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

of  God  toward  us,  because  that  God  sent  his  only 
begotten  Son  into  the  world,  that  we  might  live 
through  him."*  "  Who  is  a  liar  but  he  that  denieth 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  ?  He  is  antichrist,  that  de- 
nieth the  Father  and  the  Son.  Whosever  denieth 
the  Son,  the  same  hath  not  the  Father."!  To  St. 
Peter,  God  is  "  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 
St.  Paul  sets  him  before  us  as  "  made  of  the  seed  of 
David  according  to  the  flesh  ;"  but  "  declared  to  be 
the  Son  of  God  with  power,  according  to  the  Spirit 
of  holiness,  by  the  resurrection  from  the  dead. "J  He 
says,  "  The  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live 
by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and 
gave  himself  for  me."§  We  may  well  believe  St. 
Paul  did  not  live  by  faith  in  one  whom  he  esteemed 
a  creature.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  he 
speaks  of  this  Son  of  God  as  having  been  in  the 
form  of  God,  but  at  his  incarnation  taking  on  him 
the  form  of  a  servant ;\  which  is  an  implicit  contra- 
diction of  the  opinion  that  his  Sonship  pertained  to 
his  incarnate  existence.  The  author  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews,  whoever  he  was,  is  most  explicit  in 
his  use  of  the  name  Son,  in  the  divinest  sense : 
"  God  .  .  .  hath  in  these  last  days  spoken  unto 
us  by  his  Son."^J  "And  again,  when  he  bringeth  in 
the  first-begotten  into  the  world,  he  saith,  And  let 
all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him."**  "And  of  the 
angels  he  saith,  Who  maketh  his  angels  spirits,  and 
his  ministers  a  flame  of  fire.  But  unto  the  Son  he 
saith,  Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever."ft 

*  i  John  iv,  9.     f  1  John  ii,  22,  23.     %  Rom.  i,  3,  4      §  Gal.  ii,  20. 
||  Phil,  ii,  6,  ff.     IF  Heb.  i,  1.  2.  **  Id.,  6.  tt  Id.,  7,  8. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  349 

Now,  taking  the  pervading  thought  of  the  New 
Testament,  that  divinity  is  couched  in  the  appellation, 
"  Son  of  God,"  or,  in  other  words,  an  equality  of  es- 
sence with  the  Father,  wherein  is  this  idea  of  Sonship 
superior  to  that  of  creatureship  ?  Do  not  we  that 
worship  the  Son,  after  all,  worship  a  creature,  and  so 
violate  the  first  command  of  the  Decalogue  ?  The 
Son  was  begotten.  Was  he  not  begotten  at  a  partic- 
ular point  of  time  ?  Is  not  begetting  a  process  as 
necessarily  finite  as  creating?  Let  the  distinction  be 
whatever  it  may  between  these  two  acts ;  let  the  one 
be  a  transient  exertion  of  power,  the  other  a  passing 
over  of  the  Divine  essence  into  a  new  embodiment ; 
let  it  be  further  assumed  that  this  passing  over  of 
the  essence  is  perpetual  and  eternal,  after  it  begins, — 
still,  since  the  begotten  existence  began}  did  it  not 
begin  as  the  result  of  a  volition  of  the  Father  ?  Does 
not  the  Son,  therefore,  hold  his  existence  by  substan- 
tially the  same  tenure  as  creatures  hold  theirs — 
namely,  by  the  Divine  will  ?  However  exalted,  there- 
fore, his  being,  yet,  in  its  dependence,  it  stands  on  the 
same  plane  with  the  rest  of  creation.  Can  he,  there- 
fore, be  worshiped  ?  Must  we  not  attain  to  some 
different  conception  of  the  Son,  or  else  get  rid  of 
such  Scriptures  as,  "  Let  all  the  angels  of  God  wor- 
ship him  ?"  The  Church  has  felt  this  from  the  be- 
ginning, and  has  found  a  solution,  which,  however,  is 
not  exactly  a  solution,  but  an  answer.  Now,  let  it  be 
premised  that  the  terms  employed  in  Scripture  are 
not  presumed  to  be  adequate  to  the  mystic  and 
transcendent  truths  they  represent ;  nor  is  it  as- 
sumed that  human  language  has  any  terms  adequate 


350  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

to  their  expression.  Our  words  are  adequate  only  to 
those  things  which  we  comprehend.  When  we  do 
not  comprehend,  words  are  only  symbols,  with  a 
very  loose  and  indefinite  adaptation  to  their  objects. 
Sometimes  they  are  like  the  algebraic  x,  y,  z ;  some- 
times they  are  like  the  hieroglyphics  on  ancient  mon- 
uments. Their  contents  are  obscure,  and  have  to  be 
sought  out  and  rendered  definite.  It  may  be  long 
before,  at  the  end  of  the  process,  we  can  precisely 
state  the  value  of  the  unknown  quantity.  Of  this 
vague  and  inadequate  nature  are  the  correlatives, 
Father  and  Son,  in  the  names  of  the  Godhead  ;  the 
words  begetting  and  proceeding.  They  are  the  best 
words  which  we  have  to  represent  the  truth  intended, 
but  it  is  very  little  of  that  truth  which  they  dis- 
tinctly convey.  They  can,  therefore,  be  better  un- 
derstood negatively  than  positively.  We  can  much 
more  easily  say  what  the  "  Only  Begotten "  is  not, 
than  what  he  is. 

The  Church  met  the  difficulty  by  teaching,  in  the 
"  Nicene  Creed,"  "The  only  begotten  Son  of  God; 
begotten  before  all  worlds ;  God  of  God;  Light  of 
Light ;  very  God  of  very  God ;  being  of  one  substance 
with  the  Father!'  The  "  Athanasian  Creed  "  puts  it 
thus  :  "  Such  as  the  Father  is,  such  is  the  Son,  and 
such  is  the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  Father  uncreate,  the 
Son  uncreate,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  uncreate ;  the 
Father  incomprehensible,  the  Son  incomprehensible, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost  incomprehensible  ;  the  Father 
eternal,  the  Son  eternal,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  eternal." 
Theologians,  taking  up  the  question,  have  forged  the 
apparently  self-contradictory  phrase,  "  eternal  genera- 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  35  I 

tion"  to  express  the  mysterious  and  incomprehensible 
relation  of  Father  and  Son.  Now,  let  us  only  remem- 
ber that  these  terms  are  employed,  not  as  adequate, 
but  as  constituting  for  us  a  sign  of  these  two 
thoughts  ;  namely,  that  the  essence  of  the  Father 
is  participated  in  by  him  who  is  called  the  Son  ;  and 
that  this  participation  takes  place  outside  of  time 
and  space,  where  spatial  and  temporal  limitations  of 
thought  do  not  have  place.  This  phrase  thus  be- 
comes to  us  simply  a  terminus  beyond  which  we  can 
not  think  ;  and,  instead  of  answering  all  the  ques- 
tions we  can  raise,  only  preserves,  like  a  casket,  the 
germs  of  truth  we  have  secured. 

We  are  aware  of  the  finiteness  of  the  thought 
embodied  in  the  word  "participation"  which  we  have 
employed  above  ;  and  if  any  one  prefer,  he  may  sub- 
stitute the  word  fellowship,  if  it  seem  less  liable  to 
objection.  We  are  here  again  reminded  of  the  hope- 
less disability  under  which  our  thought  labors ;  a  dis- 
ability which  can  only  be  mitigated,  not  remedied. 
There  may  be  some  force  in  the  following : 

"  For  our  conceiving,  or  for  the  sensuous  investi- 
ture of  our  thought  which  is  necessary  to  our  spir- 
itu-corporeal  nature,  in  its  present  earthly  stage  of 
development,  the  notion  of  bringing  forth  presents 
itself  as  a  calling  into  being  of  that  wJiich  hitherto 
has  not  been  ;  from  which  arises  the  presumption  that 
the  cause,  under  all  circumstances,  must  be  older  than 
the  effect,  and  the  effect  younger  than  the  cause.  So 
long  as  our  thinking  is  mediated  by  the  activity  of 
the  brain,  or  of  any  material  organism,  so  long  can 
not  our  thought  free  itself  from  conceptions  ;  and  we 


352  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

are,  therefore,  with  our  idea  of  causality,  compelled  to 
think  of  the  being-effected  as  an  emerging  out  of  non- 
existence into  existence,  and  therefore  the  effect  as  a 
something  beginning  before  the  eye  of  our  imagina- 
tion. How,  then,  is  it  related  to  the  thought  and  the 
self-consciousness  of  God  ?  Are  not  effects  wrought 
by  God  ?  None  will  contradict  it.  Is  there,  then, 
any  time  wherein  God  was  without  his  thoughts,  and 
without  self-consciousness?  Certainly  not.  Herein 
we  perceive  that  God's  working  must  be  timeless, 
and  his  operations  without  beginning.  Therefore,  the 
beginningless  begetting  of  the  Son  can  involve  no 
difficulty."* 

No  ;  it  contains  no  other  difficulty  than  belongs 
to  all  the  doing  and  thinking  of  the  Infinite  God. 
It  is  therefore  consistent  with  all  that  we  believe 
concerning  God.  Our  inability  to  comprehend  it  is 
of  a  piece  with  our  inability  to  comprehend  God  him- 
self. We  may  therefore  accept  this  subtle  doctrinal 
statement  as  a  very  near  approach,  for  our  minds,  to 
the  verity  of  revelation.  And  let  us  bear  in  mind, 
too,  that  a  begetting  which  is  without  beginning  is 
also  without  ending — an  eternal  process \  of  which  the 
very  creation  itself,  with  all  its  history,  may  be  but 
the  type  and  the  outflowing.  This  may  serve  to  im- 
press upon  us,  yet  more  forcibly,  how  far  this  truth 
is  raised  above  our  power  to  conceive  ;  how  inade- 
quate our  terms  are  to  shadow  it  forth  ;  and  how 
futile  must  be  our  controversies  about  our  forms  of 
stating  doctrines  which  are  so  far  above  all  forms. 

*Dr.  Gess,  "Die  Lehre  v.  d.  Person  Christi,"  pp.  192,  193. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  353 

II.  Humanity. —  That  lie  is  very  Man. 

But  omitting  the  apostolic  testimonies  to  the 
Divinity  of  Christ,  which  are  themselves  worthy  of  a 
separate  treatise,  it  is  time  we  should  give  attention 
to  the  humanity  of  our  Divine  Lord  and  Redeemer. 

a.  He  is  a  real  Man. 

The  received  doctrine  of  the  Church  concerning 
our  Lord's  humanity  is  found  concisely  expressed  in 
the  Athanasian  Creed  (so-called),  as  follows:  "Perfect 
God,  and  perfect  man ;  of  a  reasonable  soul,  and 
human  flesh  subsisting ;  equal  to  the  Father  as  touch- 
ing his  Godhead,  and  inferior  to  the  Father  as  touch- 
ing his  manhood  ;  who,  although  he  be  God  and  man, 
yet  is  he  not  two,  but  one  Christ ;  one  not  by  con- 
version of  the  Godhead  into  flesh,  but  by  taking  of 
the  manhood  into  God.  One  altogether,  not  by  con- 
fusion of  substance,  but  by  unity  of  person.  For,  as 
the  reasonable  soul  and  flesh  is  one  man,  so  God  and 
man  is  one  Christ." 

This  is  beautiful,  precious  doctrine ;  sublime  in 
mystery,  but  touching  to  the  heart. 

What  a  Savior  is  a  perfect  God  and  a  whole  man ! 
How  warmly  did  the  earliest  Church  grasp  her  risen 
Savior,  glorying  in  him  as  her  "  Lord  and  her  God  ;"  at 
the  same  time  apprehending  him  as  "the  Man,  Christ 
Jesus !"  But  when  the  fervor  of  religion  became  mixed 
at  length  with  the  vagaries  of  speculation,  other  and 
various  views  arose.  Some  thought  the  humanity  of 
the  Savior  was  unreal,  and  a  mere  appearance  or  vision. 
To  them  he  was  God,  descended  "in  fashion  as  a 
man,"  without  either  the  body  or  the  soul  of  a  man. 
Others,  among  them  Arius,  as  chief,  maintained  that 

3i 


354  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

the  Logos,  who  was  not  God,  but  the  first  and  most 
exalted  of  creatures,  became  incarnate  in  a  human 
body,  without  a  human  soul. 

In  later,  and  in  present  times,  we  are  not  aware 
that  any  can  be  found  who  deny  the  reality  of  the 
Lord's  body.  But  there  are  many  who  stand  with 
Arius,  and  deny  both  his  deity  and  his  human  soul. 
Of  these  views,  Dr.  Channing  is  the  ablest  and 
worthiest  expounder.  He  insists  that  Jesus  is  not 
God.  He  does  not  say  that  he  is  not  man.  But  he 
uses  such  language  as  the  following :  "  There  is  one 
God,  even  the  Father  ;  and  Jesus  Christ  is  not  this 
one  God,  but  his  Son  and  Messenger,  who  derived  all 
his  powers  and  glories  from  the  Universal  Parent,  and 
who  came  into  the  world  not  to  claim  supreme  homage 
for  himself,  but  to  carry  up  the  soul  to  his  Father,  as 
the  only  Divine  Person,  the  only  ultimate  object  of 
religious  worship."*  Again,  he  says,  "We  believe 
that  Jesus  is  one  mind,  one  soul,  one  being,  as  truly 
one  as  we  are,  and  equally  distinct  from  the  one 
God."  f  Such  views  are  variously  repeated  in  his 
religious  discourses.  They  show  that  while  he  did 
not  in  words,  so  far  as  these  published  discourses 
show,  deny  the  actual  humanity  of  Jesus,  yet  he  held 
Jesus  to  be  a  lofty  creature,  "the  express  and  un- 
sullied image  of  the  Divinity,"  %  who  was  united  to  a 
human  body,  making  one  simple  person. 

To  this  view  there  are  several  objections,  which 
should  have  been  decisive  against  the  hypothesis,  in 
so  acute  a  mind  as  Dr.  Channing's. 

*  Works,    III,    p.    165,    published    by    the    American    Unitarian 
Association.  t  Works,  III,  p.  75.  J  Works,  III,  p.  232. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  355 

1.  It  is  necessary,  in  order  to  maintain  it,  to  ex- 
punge a  considerable  part  of  the  New  Testament. 

2.  It  does  not  relieve  us  of  speculative  difficulties. 
Did  Dr.  Channing  ever  undertake  to  show  that  it  was 
more  reasonable  a  creature-spirit  should  become  in- 
carnate, than  God  ?  Did  he  even  presume  to  suggest 
that  it  was  easier  to  domicile  a  spirit  in  an  empty  body 
than  in  one  already  en-souled  ?  Who  would  be  so 
presumptuous  ?  What  then  is  gained  for  rationality 
of  doctrine  ?  Indeed,  could  it  not  be  made  to  appear 
somewhat  probable  that  a  superior  spirit  would  find 
an  inferior  soul,  already  inhabiting  a  body,  a  conven- 
ient point  of  contact  for  his  own  incarnation  ?  Just  as 
man's  bodily  nature  more  easily  digests  material  that 
has  already  undergone  one  transformation  in  vegetable 
life,  and  still  more  easily  that  which  has  undergone  a 
second  transformation  in  animal  life  ;  so,  analogously, 
it  might  be,  that  a  pure  and  lofty  spirit,  that  never 
had  contact  with  matter,  might  find  in  a  soul  that  had 
been  born  and  brought  up  in  contact  with  matter  a 
congenial  medium  for  its  incarnation,  such  as  would 
be  lacking  in  a  soulless  body. 

But,  be  this  as  it  may,  we  are  still  environed  with 
mystery.  If,  therefore,  one  is  seeking  simplicity  in 
the  person  of  Christ,  why  not  at  once  call  him  a  man? 
For  although  man  is  not  a  very  simple  being,  still  we 
know  something  of  him  ;  and  we  know  nothing  of 
such  a  being  as  Dr.  Channing  believed  in.  And,  if 
we  put  ourselves  upon  the  task  of  burdening  a  crea- 
ture with  the  awful  attributes  and  wonderful  achieve- 
ments assigned  in  the  Scripture  to  the  Son  of  God, 
why  riot  take  man  ?     For  aught  we  know,  he  can  as 


356  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

well  intercede  for  the  world  as  an  angel ;  for  aught  we 
know,  his  death  might  signify  as  much  as  an  angel's. 
Hence  it  is,  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  Unitarians 
of  our  country  have  gone  forward  to  carry  out  the 
tendency  generated  by  Dr.  Channing,  and  have  held 
to  the  simple  humanity  of  Jesus.  In  this  they  are 
fully  as  consistent  as  he,  and,  we  think,  have  the  bet- 
ter doctrine  of  the  two. 

The  inner  relation,  subsisting  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ,  between  the  Divine  Logos  and  the 
human  Ego,  is  a  profound  mystery  which  is  not, 
probably,  penetrable  by  our  minds.  Two  natures,  so 
wide  apart,  compounded  into  a  grand,  complex,  unique 
personality,  construct  a  problem  of  gigantic  propor- 
tions, and,  for  the  metaphysician,  tougher  than  the 
geometrician's  problem  of  squaring  the  circle.  But  as 
the  one,  so  the  other  may  be  indefinitely  approached. 
Man  may,  for  the  gratification  of  a  speculative  tend- 
ency, invent  plausible  and  rational  hypotheses  of  this 
hypostatic  union.  Thank  God,  these  speculations 
have  no  practical  value  to  the  believer.  They  are  not 
necessary  to  faith  ;  nay,  they  may  be  a  hinderance  to  it. 
That  is,  the  tendency  of  mind  they  generate  may  be 
unfavorable  to  the  sweet  repose  of  faith.  But  whether 
they  be  a  hinderance  or  not,  our  faith  works  on  in 
triumph,  whatever  form  of  hypothesis  our  understand- 
ing may  adopt  for  simplifying  or  systematizing  this 
mystery. 

The  Athanasian  Creed  has  the  well-chosen  words : 
"One,  not  by  conversion  of  the  Godhead  into  flesh, 
but  by  taking  of  the  manhood  into  God!'  What  this 
"taking  into  God"  is,  we  may  not  be  able  to  conceive. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  357 

It  is  not  important  that  we  should  think  or  say  much 
about  it.  It  is  safer,  for  clear  understanding  as  well 
as  for  faith,  to  speak  negatively  rather  than  positively. 
Remembering  that  we  hold  our  Christ  to  be  both  God 
and  man,  we  must  then  deny  such  commingling  of  the 
two  natures  in  Christ,  as  to  confound  the  attributes 
of  both,  and  present  us  a  being  who  is  neither  God 
nor  man.  We  must  also  deny  such  separation  of  the 
two  natures  as  will  be  inconsistent  with  their  unity  in 
the  theanthropic  person  of  the  Redeemer.  Further 
than  this  it  will  avail  us  little  to  go.  But  theologians 
have  gone  further,  and  Churches  have  their  distinctive 
forms  of  apprehending  the  mystery.  We  have  seen 
how  the  early  Church,  the  Catholic  Church,  expressed 
her  thought  about  it. 

Among  modern  Churches,  the  Lutheran  holds 
that  in  Christ  the  Divine  and  human  natures 
blended,  each  imparting  to  the  other  its  qualities 
and  conditions.  According  to  her  theologians,  the 
human  lent  to  the  Divine  its  sensations,  its  limited 
consciousness,  its  feelings  of  privation,  its  pains  and 
griefs.  The  Divine  gave  to  the  human  a  participa- 
tion in  the  splendors  of  almightiness,  omniscience, 
omnipresence,  and  holiness.  While  the  Divinity  act- 
ively employed  the  acquired  human  faculties  and  sus- 
ceptibilities, the  humanity  was  for  the  most  part  quiet 
in  the  possession  of  its  acquired  Divine  powers,  and 
seldom  brought  them  into  requisition.  The  Re- 
formed Church  holds  the  distinctness  of  the  two 
natures  and  their  co-ordinate,  parallel,  and  co-opera- 
tive development. 

These  are   the   two  leading  forms  of  conception 


358  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

imposed  by  Christians  of  the  present  day  on  this  Di- 
vine mystery.  The  Church  of  England  stands  upon 
the  Athanasian  creed.  Dr.  Gess  argues  with  great 
ability  and  subtlety  for  a  strictly  human  development 
of  the  Divine  Logos  during  his  earthly  existence.* 
That  is,  in  his  estimation,  the  Son  of  God  szirren- 
dered  his  eternal  self -consciousness  in  his  incarnation, 
and  actually  became  man,  recovering  his  Divine  self- 
consciousness  at  his  glorification. 

In  all  these  attempts  to  understand  so  subtle  a 
mystery,  we  get  little  light,  while  we  discover  great 
revelations  of  darkness.  And  this,  the  discovery  of 
our  intellectual  impotency,  is  often  most  wholesome. 
It  will  be  to  us  a  great  blessing  if  it  humble  the 
aspiring  mind  in  lowly  and  adoring  reception  of 
truth  too  sublime  for  our  philosophy,  too  vast  for  our 
logic. 

But  so  long  as  it  stands  in  the  Word  of  God 
that  Jesus  Christ  "  was  made  sin  for  us,"  so  long  as 
our  consciousness  of  sin  recognizes  the  need  of  a 
Mediator,  so  long  will  the  real  humanity,  the  actual 
manhood  of  fleshly  body  and  reasonable  soul,  in 
our  Savior,  be  to  us  a  truth  above  all  price. 

b.  He  is  a  perfect  matt. 

His  manhood  was  without  defect,  corporeal  or 
spiritual.  It  was  not  common,  but  extraordinary. 
It  was  not  commonplace,  but  marvelously  unique. 
He  was  "the  seed  of  the  woman"  standing  alone  in 
all  history.  He  was  "the  Star  of  Jacob,"  brighter 
than  all  the  patriarchs  and  prophets.  He  was  "  the 
Scepter  of  Israel,"  loftier,  greater  than  all  her  historic 
*  "  Die  Lehre  v.  d.  Pers.  Christi,"  p.  288,  ff. 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  359 

kings.  He  was  "  the  Son  of  Man,"  not  the  offspring 
of  this  or  that  particular  man,  but  a  divinely  consti- 
tuted "branch"  of  the  common  stock  of  humanity. 
He  was  "the  second  Adam."  From  the  first  Adam 
have  come  all  colors  and  kinds  of  the  races  of  men  ; 
from  the  second,  come,  and  shall  come,  in  all  the 
future  of  eternity,  all  the  varieties  of  the  spiritual 
life,  as  it  shall  bloom  and  ripen  in  immortal  men 
and  women.  He  is  thus  the  head  Man  of  the  race. 
He  is  the  ripe  fruit  of  humanity's  tree.  He  is  the 
most  complete  and  beautiful  flower  of  the  life  that 
began  in  Eden.  He  realizes  all  the  good  possi- 
bilities that  were  wrapped  up  in  the  first  man.  All 
that  intellect  can  be  ;  all  that  can  grow  in  the  pure 
heart ;  all  beautiful  thoughts ;  all  best  affections ; 
whatsoever  we  can  conceive  of  perfect  good  in  the 
possible  experiences  of  a  man ;  whatsoever  is  grand 
in  moral  power ;  whatsoever  is  beautiful  in  senti- 
ment,— all  gather  harmoniously  into  the  oneness  of 
this  glorious  Person.  Privation,  pain,  and  sorrow 
dim  not  the  brightness  of  his  perfection,  but  seem 
to  be  the  media  for  its  happiest  manifestation.  He 
has  not  where  to  lay  his  head  ;  but  yet  he  is  at 
home  every-where.  He  has  no  lot  to  seek ;  there  is 
none  whereof  he  complains.  He  hates  nothing  but 
sin.  He  loves  all  forms  of  being.  Human  feelings 
are  all  known  to  him,  and  every  one  of  them  is  to  him 
a  jewel.  He  loves  men.  He  is  at  home  with  them 
every-where — in  hut  and  harbor  and  palace.  His 
presence  is  a  charm.  He  brings  with  it  attraction. 
He  uses  that  attraction  to  bring  men  nearer  to  his 
ideal    self,   up  towards  the  measure   of  his   spiritual 


360  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

stature.  He  has  the  most  perfect  equipoise  ever 
known  in  man.  He  strives  not.  He  cries  not.  He 
is  never  in  a  hurry.  He  is  never  agitated.  He  is 
not  storm-tossed  with  passion.  The  cloud-shadows 
of  our  life  seem  not  to  fleck  the  sublime  serenity 
of  his  interior  life.  He  is  not  up  and  down  like 
the  ocean's  billows,  as  most  of  us  are.  He  is  as 
composed  amid  the  crowd  of  crafty,  vulgar,  stormy 
adversaries  as  is  the  sleeping  infant  in  its  mother's 
arms.  He  sleeps  when  nature  is  enraged,  and  rises 
in  calmness  to  chide  the  winds.  This  sunny  sweet- 
ness, this  grand  composure,  made  him  a  grateful 
refuge  to  the  weary-hearted.  Like  a  mountain,  he 
could  furnish  a  quiet  retreat  for  weary  flocks.  Like 
a  great  rock,  he  casts  his  shadow  over  the  fainting 
traveler.  He  had  nothing  in  him  exclusively  Jewish. 
He  cherished  no  fondness  for  the  traditions  of  his 
ancestor  David.  He  had  no  family  pride,  no  pride 
of  intellect,  no  vanity  of  achievements,  no  conceit. 
There  was  in  him  no  littleness,  no  narrowness,  no 
blind  prejudice,  no  obstinacy.  He  loved  that  which 
was  human  ;  rising  above  all  his  surroundings,  trans- 
cending all  antecedents.  His  thoughts  are  human 
and  humane.  They  are  as  fresh  to-day  as  when 
they  were  uttered.  They  bear  no  marks  of  Jewish 
master.  They  bear  no  partial  reference  to  times 
and  countries.  They  are  of  universal  import  and 
of  immortal  excellence. 

Such  a  human  being  is  a  perfect  man,  filling  out 
our  ideal  of  the  highest  human  excellence  and  leav- 
ing nothing  yet  to  be  attained.  The  race  culminates 
in   him.     All   history  before  sought  after  him,  and 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  36 1 

looked  forward  to  him.     All  history  since  looks  back 
to  him,  and  moves  forward  in  his  light. 

Perfect  as  was  this  humanity  in  its  inception  and 
growth,  the  history  makes  it  plain  that  its  acme  of 
refined  completeness  was  realized  by  the  instru- 
mentality of  suffering.  This  is  it  that  brings  it 
nearest  to  our  sympathies.  'Tis  this  that  opens  the 
innermost  depths  of  our  hearts  for  its  fellowship. 
That  such  a  being  suffered  as  we  do,  and  yet  was 
perfect,  sheds  a  radiance  on  our  sorrows,  and  relieves 
them  of  their  harsher  aspects.  His  suffering  makes 
his  love  for  us  deeper  and  stronger,  in  proportion  as 
his  perfection  stands  in  contrast  with  our  unworthi- 
ness.  His  trials  add  to  his  inherent  excellence  the 
grandeur  of  heroism,  and  his  humanity  shines  the 
more  perfectly  human,  inasmuch  as  it  stands  secure, 
while  all  others  of  human  kind  have  fallen  in  the 
hour  of  trial.  And  herein  we  see  how  "it  became 
Him,  for  whom  are  all  things  and  by  whom  are  all 
things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make 
the  Captain  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  suffer- 
ings."* We  "love  Him  because  he  first  loved  us." 
The  sin-smitten  heart  in  agony  of  self-despair,  will 
gladly  cling  to  Jesus.  Clinging  to  him,  it  will  sing, 
in  the  words  of  an  old  hymn : 

"Tecum  volo  vulnerari, 
Te  libenter  amplexari 

In  cruce  desidero." 

With  the  apostle,  "counting  all  things   but  loss 
for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus," 

*  Hebrews  ii,  10. 


362  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

and  even  suffering  the  loss  of  all  things,  we  may  say 
with  St.  Bernard,  of  Clairvaux : 

"Let  me  true  communion  know 

With  Thee  in  thy  sacred  woe  ; 

Counting  all  besides  but  dross, 

Dying  with  thee  on  thy  Cross ; 

'Neath  it  will  I  die  ! 

Thanks  to  thee,  with  every  breath, 
Jesus,  for  thy  bitter  death ; 
Grant  thy  guilty  one  this  prayer, 
When  my  dying  hour  is  near, 
Gracious  God,  be  nigh !" 

c.  Thirdly,  he  was  a  sinless  man. 

Although  we  have  almost  anticipated  this  thought, 
yet  it  is  sufficiently  distinct  from  that  of  his  complete 
and  fully  developed  human-ness,  to  form  the  subject 
of.  a  few  concluding  thoughts,  and  is  worthy  of  more 
attention  than  we  can  give  it. 

That  he  could  not  have  remained  a  perfect  man  if 
he  had  sinned,  is  clear.  He  would  in  that  case  have 
fallen  down  into  the  ranks  of  those  who  train  in  the 
gloomy  footsteps  of  Adam.  What  a  loss  this  had 
been  to  the  world,  we  can  appreciate,  who  look  back 
to  him  now  as  the  man  who  never  sinned.  Who  can 
utter  the  value  of  this  one  thought  in  history,  that 
Jesus  committed  no  sin  ?  Does  it  not  illuminate 
every  dark  page  of  our  human  record  ?  Does  it  not 
surround  the  very  savage  of  Africa's  dark  wastes  with 
the  halo  of  possibilities  otherwise  not  to  be  imagined  ? 
Does  it  not  kindle  hope  in  the  criminal's  bosom,  the 
victim  of  society's  justice,  the  doomed  wretch,  who 
has  no  hope  for  this  life  ?  Ah !  who  can  tell  how 
deep  a  pall  would  have  rested  on  the  spirit  of  the 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  363 

modern  world  if  it  had  inherited  the  mistakes  and 
miseries  of  the  ancient  world  without  the  glory  of 
Jesus  ?  Who  can  tell  us  how  much  of  the  hopeful- 
ness, the  cheer,  and  the  triumph,  of  our  modern  civ- 
ilization is  owing  to  the  sinlessness  of  this  one  man  ? 
For  it  is  this  that  makes  him  dear — makes  him  a 
Savior. 

He  could  not  have  been  our  exemplar  if  it  had  not 
been  said  by  an  apostle,  "  He  knew  no  sin  ;"  if  he 
had  not  himself  said,  "  Which  of  you  convinceth  me 
of  sin  ?"  Neither  could  he  be  our  Mediator  and  In- 
tercessor with  God  if  he  had,  in  the  slightest  shadow- 
ing, come  short  of  moral  perfection.  "  If  any  man 
sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus 
Christ,  the  righteous."  This  sinlessness  is  sunshine 
over  all  lands,  and  in  all  hearts.  It  gives  emphasis 
to  the  commands  of  conscience  in  the  bosoms  of 
the  great  and  of  the  humble.  It  overhangs  the  ora- 
cles of  justice,  and  makes  the  utterances  of  human 
law  more  sacred.  It  enters  the  noisy  marts  of  trade, 
and  reveals  to  the  worshiper  of  Mammon  a  more  en- 
trancing luster  than  that  of  gold.  It  glows  in  the 
sacred  desk,  and  sanctions  every  claim  of  the  Divine 
law,  while  it  glorifies  the  benignity  of  the  Gospel. 

This  sinlessness  of  the  Savior  is  the  very  essence 
of  his  glory,  the  very  core  of  his  saving  excellence. 
We  can  not  suffer  it  to  be  tarnished.  And  while  men 
now,  as  in  other  times,  will  contradict  the  testimony 
of  Scripture  concerning  him,  it  delights  us  to  know, 
that  now,  as  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  he  can  triumph- 
antly say  to  his  enemies,  "Which  of  you  convinceth 
me  of  sin  ?"     Men  can  not  prove  that  he  sinned,  they 


364  INGHAM  LECTURES. 

can  not  make  out  even  a  plausible  case  against  him  ; 
they  can  only  avow  that,  since  he  was  human,  in 
their  judgment  he  must  have  sinned.  His  sinlessness 
would  be  too  much  of  a  miracle  for  Renan,  and  though 
it  is  assumed  by  Schenkel,  it  is  nevertheless  frittered 
away.  But  in  the  simple,  honest  story  of  the  evan- 
gelists, without  parade  of  learning,  and  without  a 
touch  of  vanity,  there  shines  forth  the  glory  of  such 
spotless  purity  as  can  not  be  gainsaid.  That  exalted 
goodness,  too  great  for  our  common  humanity,  too 
great  to  have  been  invented,  speaks  to  the  world's 
heart.  The  human  need  of  Jesus  is  too  great  ever 
to  suffer  his  place  to  be  vacated. 

Now,  if  any  one  choose  to  say  that  this  sinless 
Savior  could  have  sinned,  we  may  not  care  to  contro- 
vert it,  if  he  means  that  in  him  was  only  the  physical 
possibility  or  capability  of  sinning.  But  if  he  mean 
that  there  was  a  moral  possibility  of  his  sinning,  then 
we  must  demur.  Had  the  moral  possibility  existed,  he 
could  not  be  the  Savior  of  whom  we  have  spoken,  nay, 
of  whom  the  word  of  God  speaks.  Could  he  who  was 
"  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin," 
have  possessed  even  the  most  germinal  desire  to  sin, 
and  have  been  free  from  taint?  Could  he,  in  that 
case,  be  our  High-priest,  "  holy,  harmless,  and  un- 
defined ?"  There  is  only  one  view  of  this  to  be  taken 
by  those  who  trust  in  Christ  for  salvation.  If  he  had 
the  moral  possibilities  of  sin  in  him,  we  must  seek 
some  other  object  of  our  faith.  Absolute  holiness  is 
required  by  the  Christian  faith,  in  the  object  of  trust. 
Jesus  himself  taught,  and  insisted  upon,  this  spirit 
of  faith  in  his  followers,  and  he  directed  their  faith 


THE  PERSON  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  3^5 

continually  toward  himself — toward  his  own  person. 
He  had  proved  himself  a  deceiver,  therefore,  if,  after 
soliciting  the  absolute  trust  of  the  human  spirit  for  its 
eternal  purity  and  felicity,  he  had  shown  himself  to 
have  the  merest  initials  of  sinful  desire. 

Now,  the  faith  of  his  disciples  recognized  in  him 
a  perfectly  stainless  purity.  And  for  love  of  this 
they  bade  farewell  to  earthly  friendships  ;  they  sac- 
rificed all  worldly  prospects ;  they  brooked  poverty, 
and  dared  persecution  ;  they  took  up  their  lives  as  a 
little  thing,  and  flung  them  into  the  very  jaws  of 
death,  feeling  assured  that  in  him  whom  they  loved 
they  were  rich,  though  "suffering  the  loss  of  all 
things,"  and  in  him  they  were  superior  to  death,  that 
masters  all  besides.  Their  faith  and  love  has  been 
transmitted,  not  as  fanaticism  propagates  itself,  but 
as  life  and  love  travel,  through  the  convictions  and 
the  affections  of  men.  Ages  have  come  and  gone, 
and  the  testimony  of  Jesus  still  lives.  Great  men 
have  lived,  triumphed,  perished,  and  been  forgotten  ; 
but  the  name  of  Jesus  is  mighty  in  all  lands,  and 
more  honored  as  time  rolls  on.  This  is  the  might 
of  holiness,  this  the  success  of  charity.  Well  might 
the  exiled  Napoleon  say:  "What  a  wide  abyss  be- 
tween my  deep  misery  and  the  eternal  kingdom 
of  Christ,  which  is  proclaimed,  loved,  adored,  and 
which  is  extending  over  all  the  earth !  Is  this 
death?  Is  it  not  life,  rather?  The  death  of  Christ 
is  the  death  of  a  God !" 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
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5       *5Se'5fW 

APR   51963 

Kttu  LD 
JUN  2  8  1963 

REC'D  LD 

MARlb'65-lPlH 


LD  21-100m-ll,'49(B7146sl6)476 


ye  2SIV8 


955131  QftfO'i 

W4t 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


